Facebook launches official app for Apple's iPad on App Store
Facebook Monday afternoon revealed it is set to launch its long-awaited official application for the iPad, as a free download on Apple's App Store.
Though it is not yet available to download on the App Store, the software was outed Monday afternoon in a story from Reuters. The software arrives alongside support for social games, like Zynga's Farmville, on the mobile versions of the website.
As for the mobile games, the company's iPhone application will not support the "Credits" currency for social titles, because of Apple's terms of service for software available on the App Store. Third-party application developers will be required to support Credits in the mobile versions of their Facebook games.
Of course, Apple does not control content available in the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad, meaning players of games like Farmville will be able to purchase credits by accessing the mobile version of the website rather than the devoted application.
Facebook has touted that its new application is a "new way to experience" the social networking service. Features of the official iPad application include:
Enjoy bigger, better photos: Your photos take on new life on the iPad. They're big, high-res and easy to flip through—like a real photo album.
Focus on what matters: With less on the screen, it's easier to zoom in on your friends' photos, updates and stories.
Navigate anywhere, fast" Just tap, slide or pinch to get from one screen to another and back again in no time.
Never lose your place: Use simplified navigation to send a message, see your notifications or browse your bookmarks without switching screens.
Play games on the go: Play your favorite Facebook games wherever you are, and on a bigger screen.
Tap to send messages: A simple dropdown menu makes it easy to scan and send messages without visiting your inbox.
Rumors have existed for months that Facebook has been working on a version of its iOS application designed to take advantage of the 9.7-inch display of the iPad. In the absence of an official Facebook application, options like "MyPad" and "Friendly" have sought to fill the void.
An official site set up for the Facebook for iPad software links to the existing Facebook application for the iPhone on the App Store. That means that when it's available, iPad support will come from a universal application with support for both the iPhone and iPad included.
A full-fledged iPad application was found hidden within the existing Facebook application for iPhone earlier this month. It could be enabled and accessed through a tweak, though the social networking service quickly blocked access for unauthorized users.
Prior to last week's iPhone 4S event, there were rumors that Facebook could release its official iPad software to coincide with the event, but those claims proved to be inaccurate.
Though it is not yet available to download on the App Store, the software was outed Monday afternoon in a story from Reuters. The software arrives alongside support for social games, like Zynga's Farmville, on the mobile versions of the website.
As for the mobile games, the company's iPhone application will not support the "Credits" currency for social titles, because of Apple's terms of service for software available on the App Store. Third-party application developers will be required to support Credits in the mobile versions of their Facebook games.
Of course, Apple does not control content available in the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad, meaning players of games like Farmville will be able to purchase credits by accessing the mobile version of the website rather than the devoted application.
Facebook has touted that its new application is a "new way to experience" the social networking service. Features of the official iPad application include:
Enjoy bigger, better photos: Your photos take on new life on the iPad. They're big, high-res and easy to flip through—like a real photo album.
Focus on what matters: With less on the screen, it's easier to zoom in on your friends' photos, updates and stories.
Navigate anywhere, fast" Just tap, slide or pinch to get from one screen to another and back again in no time.
Never lose your place: Use simplified navigation to send a message, see your notifications or browse your bookmarks without switching screens.
Play games on the go: Play your favorite Facebook games wherever you are, and on a bigger screen.
Tap to send messages: A simple dropdown menu makes it easy to scan and send messages without visiting your inbox.
Rumors have existed for months that Facebook has been working on a version of its iOS application designed to take advantage of the 9.7-inch display of the iPad. In the absence of an official Facebook application, options like "MyPad" and "Friendly" have sought to fill the void.
An official site set up for the Facebook for iPad software links to the existing Facebook application for the iPhone on the App Store. That means that when it's available, iPad support will come from a universal application with support for both the iPhone and iPad included.
A full-fledged iPad application was found hidden within the existing Facebook application for iPhone earlier this month. It could be enabled and accessed through a tweak, though the social networking service quickly blocked access for unauthorized users.
Prior to last week's iPhone 4S event, there were rumors that Facebook could release its official iPad software to coincide with the event, but those claims proved to be inaccurate.
Comments
...now available to download for free form the App Store.
Though it is not yet available to download...
Nice.
True, apart from the fact (as mentioned in the article) it's not on the app store, so in what way have they launched on the app store?
While I've mostly used the website on my iPad 2 that doesn't let you upload photos so the clunky chunky iPhone app was also a requirement. This looks like it should be the best of both worlds in one place.
I'm still not exactly sure what (beyond politics and gamesmanship) took them 18 months to sort this out.
The downside: at least for me, it crashes immediately. I've rebooted my iPad with no effect. I am jailbroken, though Â? is it working any better for those of you on stock iOS? (i.e. it's conceivable they designed it to fail on JB'd devices Ã* la iBooks, and we'll have to wait a few hours or days for the fix to arrive via Cydia)
The downside: at least for me, it crashes immediately. I've rebooted my iPad with no effect. I am jailbroken, though ? is it working any better for those of you on stock iOS?
Had a bit of a refresh issue switching between the sections in the left hand swipe out bit at first, but since quitting and reloading the app it's been pretty solid on my iOS 4.3.5 iPad 2.
My ONLY beef, is that although it is super easy to post pictures now which is Awesome....there is still no way to post a video link with a thumbnail. In the past you were able to paste a link in, and it would create a thumbnail of the webpage or video for you. Then they got rid of that for the ipad, and i was hoping this update would bring it back.
From what i see so far, the answer is no they didn't.
Anyone else find it?
Thanks.
I too was abled to download the new FB app but it only crashes on launch on my first gen ipad. I did the usual restart etc and will wait to hear from the rest of the wold rather than be on the bleeding edge myself. --Mark
I had the same thing happen, and I was using the jail broken version. Just delete the App and reinstall it, that worked for me.
Cheers.
J\\
deleted
I'll give it another go after lunch.
Oh well. It does feel modern, at least.
Who the "f" cares about Facebook!!!
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
I had to delete and reinstall the app, but everything works well now.
The user interface is pretty nice.
It may be faster, but it's a whole lot harder to use then before- expect to use the search bar all the time rather then 1 tap shortcuts. And obvious things like upload of multiple pictures and filtering your stream by group are completely missing.