App Aims: Digital Face Time With Friends

Reviewer’s Comments
If it’s true that it’s not WHAT you know but rather WHO you know that’s important then Facebook is the way to tend that all-important network whenever and wherever you happen to be. To put this as succinctly as possible, the Facebook for iPhone app functions as an excellent mobile front end for the full online site. If you’re familiar with the full Facebook site, you’ll take to the iPhone’s version with hardly a pause. One of the best parts of the mobile Facebook app is the way the developers condensed and organized the information. The interface is very intuitive and well-organized. You’re not inundated with the application/highlights that typically fall on the right column on the computer screen. The really relevant information is easy to find and updating your status is a single tap away. It’s almost easier to use the iPhone Facebook app than the online version. We especially liked the way the app handles photos, utilizing the accelerometer to view them in the landscape orientation.

All that being said, there are a few minor gotchas:

• The time stamp is off by quite a bit. It will show minutes when it should be seconds and so on.
• Landscape typing would be helpful but this is fairly minor.
• You can’t edit your profile information (or photo) or add friends within the mobile app.
• You can’t view or join Facebook groups through the mobile version or poke your friends.
• Some users reported problems with the app crashing and locking up but those issues would probably be fixed by rebooting the iPhone to clear out the memory and also upgrading to the latest iPhone software update. We didn’t experience any problems during the review period.

If you’re one of the thousands that are addicted to Facebook, you’ll love this app. The mobile Facebook app is meant to be an easy way to keep in touch with existing friends, monitor status updates (yours and your friends) and upload new photos on the go. It doesn’t have the full functionality that the regular Facebook site has but it’s packed with a lot of valuable features. Check out our iPhone 3G review, music and movie download reviews as well as our other iPhone App reviews to help you get the most out of your iPhone. If you like social networking sites, be sure to check out our Social Networking Websites review.