Facebook Touch HD – Facely Review
By Chris Hall on February 15th, 2011
Our Rating: 
:: SLICK
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Paying for Facebook will be tough for some, but those willing to shell out some cash will find themselves a very slick Facebook experience.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Just get a new Verizon iPhone, or a new iPhone on any network, and curious how to get to your Facebook account? If so, we’re
going to show you how dive into the mobile-social wave with grace using the official Facebook for iPhone app. And although Facebook
doesn’t currently support an official app for the iPad, we’ll show you a few alternatives to help you get started after the break!
There are umpteen millions of Facebook users and Facebook for iPhone is probably the most download app in mobile. Still, if you’re new to social networking and don’t yet have a Facebook profile, that’s where you ned to start. Just head on over to Facebook.com and
register an account before getting started.
Now on to some basic tasks using the Facebook for iPhone app…
Facebook for iPhone
Fortunately Facebook provides an official app in the App Store alongside their mobile touch version in Safari. The native app allows iOS users to view the news feed,
upload photos and video, check in to places, view upcoming events and birthdays,
chat with your friends and a lot more. Here are a few quick tips
to help you get started using Facebook on your iPhone.
News Feed
The News Feed where you’ll find all of your friend’s status updates in one place. If your friends upload any photos or videos you’ll be able to see them in a stream of aggregated updates. From the news feed you’ll be able to comment on a status, jump into a photo or ‘like’ a status update you find interesting or compelling. If you see an interesting link in the news feed the app has a built-in web browser so you don’t get kicked out of the app if you want to continue reading. You can also filter down the news feed to only show photos, notes, status updates etc if you want to cut down on the noise and get to specific updates.
Update your status, photos or location
To get started with the first tip you’ll want to go back into the news
feed. Here you will be given three options along the top: Photo,
Status and Check In. You’ll be able to post a quick status update,
pull a photo or video from the iOS photo-picker to upload or check
yourself into the nearest location and broadcast it to your network of
friends. The process is easy and straightforward. If you’re
uploading a picture of a friend, you’ll also be able to tag that
friend from directly within the app!
Chat
Most of my friends use Facebook chat, so if I’m looking to communicate
with one of my friends on-the-fly I’ll usually jump into the chat
instead of posting something on their wall. To use Facebook Chat on
the iPhone just tap the Chat icon in the main section. Next you’ll be
taken to an alphabetical list of friends that are online, and from
here you can tap a friend to begin chatting. If you don’t want to be
seen online whenever getting into Facebook for iPhone, just tap ‘Go
Offline’ in the upper-right corner of the chat. The latest update to
Facebook for iPhone fixed issues with inconsistencies in the chat, so
don’t worry about always having to go offline every time you launch
the app if you want to appear offline most of the time.
Search
If you’re quickly trying to find one of your friends all you have to
do is tap the search field at the top in the main section of the app.
From here you’ll be able to filter down your list of friends and jump
to any friend’s profile. From the profile viewer, you can comment or
‘like’ your friends status updates and photos just as you can from the
news feed. You can also search the entire Facebook user directory by
selecting ‘Everyone’ below the search field, or ‘Pages’ to filter
through different Facebook pages.
Notifications
With the latest update to Facebook for iPhone, Facebook has also
redesigned the notifications section allowing for a much more
aesthetically pleasing interface making it easier to sort through your
latest notifications. Using the Notifications section is also a very
easy process, as you simply tap your desired notification to be taken
to the corresponding update. You’ll be able to view any new comments
or changes since the last time you were online from the notifications
section.
Facebook apps for iPad
Unfortunately Facebook has yet to release an official app for the iPad
– they apparently don’t view the iPad as a mobile device (say what?)
– so we’ve rounded up a few great alternatives to use until Facebook
comes to their senses.
Friendly for Facebook is an app that recently went free,
making it a great way to get started if your not looking to spend any
money. This app is all around a great full featured way to engage
with friends on Facebook and allows you to upload photos which is
something you don’t get in Safari. You can even get into limited
profile editing and customize the color of the layout in the settings.
Also look for its counterpart Friendly Plus for Facebook ($.99) which
takes out the ads. [iTunes -- free]
FacePad was released last week and combines the look and feel
of the official Twitter app for iPad, but it’s for Facebook. It
really doesn’t get more simple than that. If you’ve ever used Twitter
on your iPad then you’ll probably be able to pick up the layout right
off the bat. One thing you’re not getting is the ability to upload
photos or video and there are a few bugs that need to be worked out,
but the app has definitely made a stir in the iPad community and has
room to grow. If you like the Twitter app for iPad, check out FacePad
today! [iTunes -- $.99]
Facebook Browser for iPad isn’t one I’d personally recommend, but
it does offer some nice features. I’m not a fan of the layout and
design, but others might like it. You can do all the regular things
like check your messages, view the live stream and comment on status
updates. There are a couple of themes to choose from, but transitions
are slow and the app feels more like a webpage than a native app,
however it has some promise. Check it out! [iTunes -- $.99]
Facebook Touch HD has similar aesthetic qualities to that of
Friendly for Facebook, but doesn’t quite pull it off with as much
grace. Although you can do things like upload photos and even save
your friend’s photos to your camera roll, the app doesn’t have as much
polish as I feel it should and crashed more than once while I was
playing with it. There are a few things they need to work on given the price, but if
all you care about is accessing Facebook outside of the browser then
maybe this one is for you! [iTunes -- $2.99]
Remember that you can always get back to the familiar Facebook layout
by using Safari, but you’ll lose some abilities (uploading photos).
Then again, you’re also gaining other abilities (‘liking’ someone’s
comment within a status update), so it’s really a give-and-take game until
Facebook officially comes out with a killer way to use the service on the iPad.
As always, let us know if you have any questions or run into any issues and we’ll do our best to help out in the comments. Also let us know what
your favorite apps are for browsing Facebook on the iPad below!
Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)
Daily Tip: How to get started with Facebook on your iPhone or iPad [Beginner] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Popularity: 1% [?]
Developer: Company 100 Inc
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.45 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.04 out of 5 stars
There’s a certain stigma attached to Facebook games. As fun as they may look, you just know that they are going to be hitting you up for money for some critical game element. The worst, to me, is Farmville. For the life of me I’ll never understand why people enjoy building a farm only to basically wait for the crops to grow in real time. That is unless you shell out your life savings for Gro… or whatever they are calling it. Ok, I’ll get off my soap box.
Buddy Rush, unlike the masses of other Facebook games out there, doesn’t rely on in app purchases to make the game flow. The basic idea is that you are a Diablo-type hero that goes on all sorts of quests to help out the town. Like any RPG, you level up as you progress throughout the game and collect items from the enemies that you slay. The town you live in has all the staples of the genre, including a shop, a guy that will upgrade your skills, a place to sell your wares, a friend recruitment center, and a place to find your missions.
Once you get into the missions, the game resembles a super lite version of a Diablo clone. The graphics are very cartoony, the dialogue is all tongue in cheek, and the combat is relegated to putting your character in the vicinity of the enemy, as all the combat is automatic.
The real fun of the game, and what makes it undoubtedly Facebook linked, is your ability to add on other Facebook users to your party to fight as mercenaries. Fighting through maps alone is one thing, but having some valuable help makes for a very nice experience. Unfortunately you have to invite people along via Facebook, which sends along one of those incredibly annoying Facebook game invites, but if you like the game then the quick annoyance is worth it.
If you were wondering where the in app purchase was going to strike its ugly face, it is in the shop. Fortunately, the potato chips (the in-game currency) can only buy extra character classes and some potions. As far as I can tell, nothing in the shop is necessary for the game to be played, and for that I give the developers huge kudos. It may not be as good of a business model as the otherwise unplayable Farmville, but it does make for a much nicer gaming experience.
All in all, Buddy Rush is a surprisingly well crafted cross platform Facebook app for the iPhone and iPad. It’s bright graphics, excellent sound, good sense of humor, and vast re-playability will keep fans of the genre happy for some time. As long as you go in knowing that Buddy Rush is targeted towards the casual gaming market rather than the D&D crazed RPG masses, you’ll have a good time.
[ Buddy Rush Review is a post from 148Apps ]
Popularity: 1% [?]
Some Facebook for iPhone users are experiencing two rather annoying bugs — Facebook does not send their status updates to their friends’ live feeds, and Facebook for iPhone seems to be missing from all users’ privacy settings. Details after the break!
Facebook for iPhone status update bug
When a use who is experiencing this bug updates their status with the Facebook for iPhone app, the status only appears on their wall and not on their friends’ live feeds. Meaning, in order for one of the user’s friends to see the status, they must go directly to the user’s wall – which most people don’t do. An irritating bug to say the least.
Workaround
Facebook’s mobile site and touch site work just fine. So you can use them until Facebook fixes this problem.
Use a different app to post Facebook status updates
Facebook for iPhone missing privacy settings
The other issue with the Facebook for iPhone app has to do with privacy. When you add an app to your Facebook account, it gets added to the list of apps you use in your privacy settings. It is here that you can see what information any given app has access to, as well as remove any ability that you do not approve of. The problem is that the Facebook for iPhone app is not included in the list. This means that no one knows for certain what permissions Facebook for iPhone has.
Workaround
Stop using Facebook for iPhone (not an acceptable solution, Facebook needs to fix this!)
Are you experiencing either of these bugs? If so, have you discovered any other fixes or workarounds? Are you using the mobile or touch site, or have you installed a different app to post status updates? What are your thoughts on Facebook for iPhone being non-existent in your privacy settings? Sound off below!
[Facebook discussions, thanks Bob for sending this in!]
iPhone Bugs: Facebook status updates not entering live feed, iPhone privacy settings missing is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Popularity: 1% [?]
PRICE: FREE (App Store Link)
Facebook App for iPhone was just updated to 3.1.1 from 3.1 yesterday. This fixed a minor bug with syncing. Here is what 148apps.com had to say about the 3.1 update:
Facebook has debuted version 3.1, the next major release to the software. Thankfully, this version adds full support for Apple’s Push Notification Service, meaning you can now setup the app to notify you of various types of status alert. Not to add more the in-app interface, (heck – the app is overflowing with functionality!), the guys at Facebook have decided to oust the settings for notifications to iPhone OS Settings. Simply head over to Settings > Facebook. Configurable notification options include the ability to setup push alerts for Messages, Wall posts, Friend requests, Friend confirmations, Photo tags, Events and of course, Comments.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Use the form below to search the site:
Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!
A few highly recommended friends...
All entries, chronologically...
