Facebook’s iPad App Has Been Done Since May, But They Won’t Release It(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Facebook’s iPad App Has Been Done Since May, But They Won’t Release It
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/26/facebook-ipad-app-saga/
9 comments
How is this going to affect Three20 or your work on Nimbus? I'm really looking forward to seeing Nimbus develop as I've been fairly frustrated with Three20 so far. Best of luck on the new job and thank you for your contributions to the iOS community.
Three20 is mostly in a bug-fixes only state right now. The fact is that the framework is complex enough that the cost of adding a new feature often outweighs the benefit. This is the main reason why I've decided to start anew with Nimbus and so far the progress has been really great.
Going forward I'm planning to dedicate a chunk of my mornings to working on Nimbus, splitting my time between going over pull requests and building new features. I love building tools to accelerate the development process of other iOS developers and plan to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
Going forward I'm planning to dedicate a chunk of my mornings to working on Nimbus, splitting my time between going over pull requests and building new features. I love building tools to accelerate the development process of other iOS developers and plan to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
I'm definitely watching it and hope I can contribute in some way to the project.
>I also really want to emphasize that my time at Facebook was incredible [...]
I'm sure you're telling the truth, but the fact that you feel you should mention it speaks volumes about Facebook & the reputations we cultivate.
I'm sure you're telling the truth, but the fact that you feel you should mention it speaks volumes about Facebook & the reputations we cultivate.
"Feature complete" is subjective. Facebook has had the option of scaling the iPhone app to the iPad resolution and releasing it with feature parity for probably at least a year.
Of course a better iPad experience comes from an app designed for that form factor but there's nothing to stop you releasing one version and then iterating on it.
So one can quite reasonably argue that Facebook has been holding back the iPad app, which raises the question of why.
I can't believe Apple doesn't want this app released given the popularity of Facebook. The original version of Ping was also integrated with Facebook that was pulled at the last minute due to "onerous terms" [1] (according to Steve Jobs).
The prima facie evidence is that there is some kind of tussle going on between Apple and Facebook. Perhaps Facebook's "onerous" terms included demands on the iTunes service and Facebook integration (which is lent more credence given Facebook's recent moves into music)? Perhaps Facebook wanted Facebook login to iTunes and other Apple properties? I don't know.
What I suspect is the iPad app is another bargaining chip.
To argue it's not "feature complete" is disingenuous. This is a subjective measure of simply deciding "that's enough".
[1]: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20015402-37.html
Of course a better iPad experience comes from an app designed for that form factor but there's nothing to stop you releasing one version and then iterating on it.
So one can quite reasonably argue that Facebook has been holding back the iPad app, which raises the question of why.
I can't believe Apple doesn't want this app released given the popularity of Facebook. The original version of Ping was also integrated with Facebook that was pulled at the last minute due to "onerous terms" [1] (according to Steve Jobs).
The prima facie evidence is that there is some kind of tussle going on between Apple and Facebook. Perhaps Facebook's "onerous" terms included demands on the iTunes service and Facebook integration (which is lent more credence given Facebook's recent moves into music)? Perhaps Facebook wanted Facebook login to iTunes and other Apple properties? I don't know.
What I suspect is the iPad app is another bargaining chip.
To argue it's not "feature complete" is disingenuous. This is a subjective measure of simply deciding "that's enough".
[1]: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20015402-37.html
Facebook has had the option of scaling the iPhone app to the iPad resolution and releasing it with feature parity for probably at least a year.
This is not to say that your conclusion is incorrect, but unless something significant has changed with Three20 since the last time I used it, it isn't super-usable on iPad.
This is not to say that your conclusion is incorrect, but unless something significant has changed with Three20 since the last time I used it, it isn't super-usable on iPad.
This is not true: the iPhone Facebook app has worked nearly perfectly on the iPad for some time now (I think almost a year, in fact). On jailbroken devices we have a hack called "FullForce" that flips the "this is an iPad-native app" flag for any app (its a new panel under Settings), and a lot of people jailbreak just so they can get a quite reasonable iPad Facebook app.
I'm still using FaceForward with Facebook version 3.4.4, and that's worked out well for me so far.
Good to hear that this has changed. Thanks for the info.
The lack of a Facebook app for the iPhone hurts Apple more than it hurts Facebook, in my opinion. Facebook has a near-monopoly in feature-rich social networks (yes, the specifier was inserted to discount Twitter, but I believe Twitter has a very different market/userbase from Facebook and isn't in direct competition; I'd be happy to argue about it) and its most threatening competitor, Google+, probably isn't going to have a native app for iOS anytime soon.
In addition, a native app will make it actually harder for users to run Facebook apps; apps that require micropayments will be especially problematic within Apple's framework.
Is the user goodwill from releasing an iPad app worth potentially driving users away from Facebook apps? Probably not. Apple, on the other hand, lives and dies by user experience.
In addition, a native app will make it actually harder for users to run Facebook apps; apps that require micropayments will be especially problematic within Apple's framework.
Is the user goodwill from releasing an iPad app worth potentially driving users away from Facebook apps? Probably not. Apple, on the other hand, lives and dies by user experience.
Techcrunch seems to relish in taking a little bit of fact and embellishing it with enough drama and politics. Now when the developer in question tries to correct it he looks like he was pressured into backing off.
Facebook's iOS app has been buggy for some time. There's no reason to justify a delay unless Apple blocks them so it's plausible that management is interfering in some way.
Facebook's iOS app has been buggy for some time. There's no reason to justify a delay unless Apple blocks them so it's plausible that management is interfering in some way.
> Techcrunch seems to relish in taking a little bit of fact and embellishing it with enough drama and politics
Welcome to the press...
And I agree, Facebook's app is bloody awful. Crashes randomly, sometimes doesn't load for unspecified reasons, and it randomly logs me out and forces me to log back in.
Welcome to the press...
And I agree, Facebook's app is bloody awful. Crashes randomly, sometimes doesn't load for unspecified reasons, and it randomly logs me out and forces me to log back in.
Normally I don't think companies should focus on making tablet specific versions of their site (normal desktop pages work just fine), but Facebook relies too heavily on Javascript for the limited power of today's tablets.
Edit: I have an iPad version 1
Edit: I have an iPad version 1
Huh? Fb works just fine in my iPad browser (except for the flash games, but that's not related to java script).
The worst part about the web app for me is the amount of 'mystery meat' navigation that's invisible unless you hover over it - something we don't have on Tablets.
The hover state usually appears if you click on the area, but that requires you to know that it exists first.
The hover state usually appears if you click on the area, but that requires you to know that it exists first.
For any UW students out there he's from University of Waterloo Velocity.
From the article:
"The Facebook iPhone app is the most downloaded app of all time."
Is this really true? I don't recall seeing it at the top of the charts.
"The Facebook iPhone app is the most downloaded app of all time."
Is this really true? I don't recall seeing it at the top of the charts.
It's rarely at #1, but it has been a permanent fixture in the top 20, while most other apps are only on the chart for a short time. That adds up.
What is Facebook's plan for credits? I rarely even remember that they're there. Does anyone use them?
Definitely just waiting until iOS5...
Facebook's new corporate statement should be "Let's be evil".
I also really want to emphasize that my time at Facebook was incredible and my reasons for moving on were remarkably complex, none having to do with any dislike for Facebook or ill feelings. The number of hours I put into the project were out of genuine passion for the product, not because anyone was forcing me to do so.