Facebook finally releases iPad app

CinVin · Oct 10, 2011

Facebook finally releases iPad app
(Via L.A. Times)

LA Times said:

Facebook's on-again, off-again plans for an iPad app have finally reached fruition.
After months of breathless speculation, Facebook rolled out the long-awaited app Monday. It's available free from the Apple App Store, has bigger photos and lets you play games on the go.
Apple and Facebook had been in negotiations over the app for months.
So much for predictions. Bloggers had assured us that the iPad app would be unveiled at Apple's iPhone 5 event last week. Of course, Apple did not unveil the iPhone 5 then either. (It was the 4S.)
The iPad app could be a boon for Apple. None of the tablets running Google's Android software have a tailor-made Facebook app.
For Facebook the benefits are obvious: An iPad app will help keep people tethered to Facebook.
Facebook also added support for social games on mobile versions of its social networking service. And that's clearly a win for Zynga.
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-- Jessica Guynn
twitter.com/jguynn
Product image: Notifications and messages are available at the top of every screen. Credit: Facebook

gemma · Oct 11, 2011

And from what I'm reading it is full of bugs

BBC Tech News said:

Just hours after Facebook's release of its long-awaited iPad app, users have started reporting minor bugs.

Some said it should have been tested better to ensure it worked properly with peripherals developed for the iPad, such as the iPad dock.

Facebook admitted that there were some bugs, but said that it was not unusual for new products.
The app comes out 18 months after the launch of the first Apple tablet.

Available for free at the Apple app store, the program is actually an upgrade of the existing iPhone app, tweaked to fill the larger iPad screen.

The interface for the application lets users "pinch" the screen to zoom in and out, as well as swipe to flip through photos that fill the entire display, as with a real photo album.

A Facebook spokesperson told BBC News that all products were always "vigorously" tested before launch.

"However, as with all new technology products, occasionally unexpected bugs will surface once people start using products on a mass scale."

The company added that it was "following up on feedback".

'Repeated delays'

iPad owners have been pondering over the lengthy wait for a proper Facebook app ever since the tablet was first launched, back in 2010.

Until now, they had a choice of whether to use a tiny iPhone-size screen in the centre of the iPad display; to download one of the apps that supported the social network but was developed by a third party, or to access Facebook through its website.

But the company did not go into any detail about why users had been forced to wait so long.

"We're releasing it now because it's done," said Bret Taylor, the firm's chief technology officer.

It was reported in September that Jeff Verkoeyen, the application's lead developer, wrote in his blog about the app's repeated delays despite it being almost finished several months ago.

Bugs found

But shortly after the app's release, users have started complaining of a number of bugs.

Michael Clawson wrote on Twitter that he was not able to see his pages when clicking on left panel icons.
Another user, journalist Mark Coyle said that the app came "complete with a glaring bug".

"I have an Apple dock/keyboard, and if you put the iPad on the dock then try to comment on a post, the 'Send' button doesn't appear," he said.

"Take it off the dock - it appears. Poor testing by FB."

Twitter user @Cocoanetics wrote: "Facebook App first impression: decoding images on the main thread cause stutter when scrolling, even on iPad 2."

According to Facebook, of the 350 million people who access the social network on their mobile devices every month, about half do so through a web browser and half use applications built on their phone or tablet operating system.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15256901

Kevin · Oct 12, 2011

Something I don't get with the demand for tablet versions of these kinds of apps... why not just use the browser on that big screen to go directly to Facebook instead?

Seems that the concept of websites freeing users from being tied to a desktop is being dropped in favor of tying users to a mobile OS (eg: iOS, Android, Windows Mobile)

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Facebook finally releases iPad app

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