Facebook for Android hits the Market, still playing a bit of catch up
By Donald Melanson 
posted Sep 8th 2009 6:47PM
posted Sep 8th 2009 6:47PM
Well, it's taken a little while, but it looks like Android users now have a Facebook app to call their own. As you might expect from an initial release, however, the app is a bit less full featured than some of its counterparts and, judging from the few initial comments, a bit buggy. The good news is that you'll be able to do all the basics like share status updates, check your news feed, look at your friends' walls, and even check up to 125 of your friends' phone numbers straight from the home screen. You won't, however, get things like messaging or chat and, at least at the moment, it appears to have some particular problems with the HTC Hero and HTC Magic (although those reports are obviously still preliminary). On the upside, the app is completely free, and available to download from Android Market right now.
[Thanks, SliestDragon]
[Thanks, SliestDragon]
Thats good, I think Android is a really solid Mobile OS and its fairly easy to navigate through. However, I think that it needs a modern facelift. It reminds me a little bit like Ubuntu without any user enhancements, its nice and simple but it just looks dated...
My thoughts exactly. Although that Sense UI looks really, really nice.. When will they make Beryl for Android?! lol
Beryl? Isnt that old school? Compiz Fusion is the latest incarnation...where have you been?
wow, they just got it?
My iPhone's had facebook longer than I can remember. And Myspace and Twitter and AOL IM.
@quantum... Really prove it. Send me a picture of a screen cap via text.
@Quantum, yep, that's because it came out early and people like you overpaid for a flashy interface.
Tell me though, how long have you been running those apps simultaneously, unhacked? Oh wait, never mind. Android users can enjoy all of those apps and multitask with them at the same time.
Apparently Quantumphysics can't remember back to life before the iPhone... Forgets the names of his friends and family..
I think the Android home screen looks super nice, and I think it looks nicer than the iPhone's grid of icons on black, but the SDK controls for third party apps are a little lacking. I kind of wish they'd do an overhaul on the built-in UI controls for the SDK, but I wouldn't really want them to change up the home screen (which for me is the identity of the device, really) too much because it's really slick and super convenient to use.
Although, Quantum is playing the part well, he has a point. I've been able to use Facebook on my phone for a year now. True, without multitasking but that's ok. I knew what I was getting into when I got my phone.
I do not know too much about Android. I used the G1 once when it came out. But I read all the time on Engadget how great the OS is and how the market is really coming along. I am glad to see the same apps come to other platforms, I guess there is still at this time more hype then substance. Possibly why Android isn't taking off on Netbooks and so forth.
But a year difference between iPhone OS and Android versions are inexcusable. How is the market supposed to flourish if bigger programmers a year to write an app.
Yeah, it is lame to say the least!
Tobi, EM1, just stop with your raging iPhone fanboyness and think about it.
There is not an "inexecusable" gap of an entire year to write one application for Android. The reason the application's only coming out now is because Facebook didn't view Android as a competitive platform until recently (Some staff members went so far as to call it vapourware).
Sweeet.
"however, the app is a bit less full featured than some of its counterparts and, judging from the few initial comments, a bit buggy."
That sentence right there, just about describe the whole Android platform/experience. Neat.
Screw everything about facebook, I want the phone in the picture!!! =D
@N900
1. It's not N900
2. It's quite slow considering it's an emulator included in Android SDK (I guess you knew that already).
Yeh really, what he hll is that cool Droid in the pic?
BESIDES I have had an HTC Hero since about a month, when I exchanged it for the disappointing iphone3GS, and the Facebok widget and app has always ben there, it was one of the first one I got rid of.
I just kept twitter and IM and Skype and all of these have been working perfectly from day 1.
One more thing, whoever says tha Android+Sense UI on the Hero looks dated, lags, has this or that that should or can be better, has never tried to use one.
his froma guy who beside the Hero also owns an HTC TouchHD and a NOKIA N97.
From today I have set for sale both the TouchHD and the N97, I know that will only use the Hero anyway.
At least until can grab an HTC Leo and/or a Nokia N900, that is.
The Facebook app has been on android for 6-8 months.
Not sure what the people at Facebook are on, maybe it's been "in beta" all this time...
(Have a G1, have had it since March, has had Facebook app on home screen since March...)
There are many unofficial Facebook apps. Are you sure you weren't using one of those?
Wait, according to the link, "This application was not developed by Facebook." Why is this news?
@schum
It's news because the app was developed by Google itself and Facebook is calling it the "offical" fb app...for now.
Well it's not playing "catch-up" to WinMo if that's what you mean. Stupid WinMo devs...
Other than an extra 1/8th inch of screen real estate, what advantages does a native app have over a mobile web site like x.facebook.com, which i'm autumatically redirected to anyway when going to facebook on my phone's browser? The (unofficial but excellent) reddit.com app for android adds some value by being fat-finger friendly, but I still find myself using the web site as often as the app, and reddit doesn't even have a mobile site that i'm aware of.
Well for one thing, it's a widget that sits on your home screen and live updates wall posts. It also makes it easy to upload photos from the camera or your gallery. And will vibrate and notify you of new messages and pokes.
Other than that it's just like browsing the web.
Stalking people on the go...THANK YOU ANDROID!
Nonono, you're thinking of Twitter...
No No NO!!! You're thinking of Tweets on the Layer app... That is uber serial killer stalking to the Xtreme..
?... This has been out for over half a YEAR.
Not for Android it hasn't, at least not an app officially sanctioned by the powers-that-be at Facebook.
As for the app itself, I just downloaded it and it's not too shabby....
The blackberry version is similarly crippled. Quite disappointing to not have chat, considering we have physical keyboards and a decent sized screen.
The iPhone version of this app handily takes the cake for now, but I think that's more a reflection of Facebook's targeted programming resources rather than OS/phone capabilities.
Now if only they'd update the WM version as well to something on par with the iPhone app.
Facebook, it's for assholes and idiots. On any platform.
*Sheepishly closes the facebook tab in my browser*
Looks like someone's a little jealous that they don't have any friends...
LOL @ saca. :)
lolzors at Slutnugget. I have your Mom as a "friend". That's all that matters. Dont need facebook to talk to her either. All she needs to hear from me is the sound of my pimp hand before I smack the bitch.
Or has better things to do then sit on a social network all day. I have a facebook acct but the ONLY reason I got it was because its the only way to get a hold of some people online. Fuck facebook. Livejournal and a whole host of other social networks has way better security and granular access. That and the Facebook UI looks like it was developed by a bunch of stoned, drunk, college frat boys. Worst damn UI on a social network I've ever seen.
what you guys talkin about? there's been NO official facebook app for android until now. must have used some great knockoff thats it.
What are YOU talking about, the facebook widget and relative app was prominent on the homescreen of my new Hero (from which I promptly eliminated it) since it got out of its pretty box, and I bought it directly from HTC importer to Scandinavia.
So Facebook acts like they'll never release one, the Bloo guy makes one for a modest fee using the API, and then Facebook releases an official one for free that's still not perfect. That kinda sucks all around.
I've had fBook for like... 5 months.??? It's a solid app... but... It has updates every couple days and half of the features don't work on it! haha... So scratch the solid part..
so who developed this? when u click the link, it says this application was not developed by facebook, and from what i understand there have been unofficial apps out for a while now...why is this news?
*shrugs* I purchased Bloo months ago. http://fbandroid.wordpress.com/
This thing is FAST FAST. Especially compared to Bloo and Babbler. Though, they seem to have more features. Which is rather ironic.
Bloo is probably the best native Facebook app out right now.
This isn't the first Facebook app for Android.
There have been better more feature-filled apps available on the market for months. Take a look at Babbler and Bloo. I like Babbler better, Bloo is slow to load.
* This is also not an OFFICIAL Facebook app. It isn't programmed by Facebook *
it's terrible compared to Bloo or Babbler (other Android Facebook apps that have been out a while), they are a million times better and you can do much more with them!
The app itself isn't as good as Bloo, but hey it's free and the widget is worth the download!!
Check out that Nesladek guy! WOOT