Facebook App Updates, Adds Inbox Support
| by Kevin Krause on April 23rd, 2010 |
While you can register many complaints about Facebook’s native Android app, the fact that new message and friend request notifications bumped you to the mobile Facebook site is high up on my list of reasons why the app just missed the mark. Now Facebook, amid all of their site announcements and updates over the past week, has released an updated version of Facebook for Android featuring — you guessed it — inbox support.
They eliminated the option to open up your phone’s camera for snapping and uploading pics to your Facebook profile (I don’t see it being missed very much) in order to add room for the Inbox icon, and you now have direct access to all of your messages (sent and received) and page updates. A big improvement for sure.
A warning: some users are reporting the new update has been force-closing on many devices. So far I have not experienced this issue, but we will keep you updated.
[Thanks to Jake for the heads up!]
1. G8D wrote on April 23, 2010
Oh, by the way the camera app link is now next to the status “What’s on your mind?” bar.
2. Mitchell wrote on April 23, 2010
Once i updated the Facebook app, my phone would always foreclose the app so had to delete and reinstall! Motorola cliq xt
3. Josh wrote on April 23, 2010
When will they add chatting??
4. sjohn wrote on April 23, 2010
i cant wait till they add the functionality of the iphone one… its annoying that developers do this, another example of this is pandora
5. SithSurfer wrote on April 23, 2010
@Josh – probably in 2012.
@Kevin K. – you’re welcome ;)
6. AndroidsOfTara wrote on April 23, 2010
@Mitchell: Once i updated the Facebook app, my phone would always foreclose the app so had to delete and reinstall!
RANT: “Foreclose” is what happens when you stop paying down the mortgage for your house. “Force close” is when your Android app suddenly quits and you see an error message.
One of the market reviews of the Facebook upgrade uses the word “foreclosuring.”
WTF?
7. G8D wrote on April 23, 2010
It only forcecloses when I try to go the the “home” page of the FB app.
No inbox for me.
8. ZL wrote on April 23, 2010
still long way to go
9. ZL wrote on April 23, 2010
hmmm… multitouch works on photos
10. Andy wrote on April 23, 2010
What they really need is an easier way to view events. One of the great reasons for having a smartphone is being able to look up addresses on the fly.
11. ibeddiev wrote on April 23, 2010
Yes, the facebork app is pretty much a turd compared to the iphone app. Very disappointing.
12. AW wrote on April 23, 2010
seeems to work well on MT3G
13. Darkseider wrote on April 23, 2010
The question is after removing and re-installing did the app behave properly or still force close?
14. zach wrote on April 23, 2010
PLEASE HELP!
I INSTALLED THE UPDATE AND NOW EVERYTIME I OPEN IT, IT FORCE CLOSES… I UNINSTALLED AND REINSTALLED… WHAT DO I DO NOW?
15. Jason wrote on April 23, 2010
Upgraded on my Eris. Received the “Sorry”, [force close]. Uninstalled. Reinstalled. Worked until I wanted to go to the home screen. Now it doesn’t work.
16. Nexuslvr wrote on April 23, 2010
Works perfectly for me. Know why? NEXUS ONE BITCHES!! Upgrade!!
17. Simon wrote on April 23, 2010
@Josh: They don’t need to add Facebook Chat, because it doesn’t work on the website, nevermind putting it on a sub-par official app. Ebuddy does Facebook Chat though
18. Nexuslvr wrote on April 23, 2010
Works perfectly for me. Know why? NEXUS ONE TROLLS!! Upgrade!!
19. Elden wrote on April 23, 2010
mine works fine…no force closes at , using the droid eris
20. Angel wrote on April 23, 2010
for now I just go to touch.facebook.com to get a better experience
21. Cleanswab wrote on April 23, 2010
Do notifications work? I haven’t used the official app in ages because it never let me know when someone wrote on my wall, commented on my status, replied to a comment, etc. Facebook Mobile has (annoyingly) been what I use to do all my facebooking.
22. kb7sqi wrote on April 23, 2010
For those getting FC’s, just open the facebook in landscape mode. It works fine after doing that on my cliq. Hope that helps.
23. victor wrote on April 23, 2010
great, now add events!
24. Brett wrote on April 23, 2010
Same question as Josh, when are they going to add chatting? Also why can’t we choose latest posts???
25. Tyler wrote on April 23, 2010
Installed it and now it force closes on Telus HTC Hero. Re instaled to no avail
26. Lewis wrote on April 23, 2010
Installed it on my Eris and it worked fine until I tried to hit the back button. Force closed and refused to re-open. Uninstalled and the same problems occurred.
27. Welocy wrote on April 23, 2010
The problem with Facebook is that they still think Android sucks..
28. Phil wrote on April 23, 2010
Are they still doing this out of spite for Google? I mean seriously it begins to look bad on them as devs for not being able to build a good app.
29. Jonathan wrote on April 23, 2010
I upgraded and it partially worked. I was getting connection refused issues on a lot of the features. I could view the list of my friends though. I rolled back the update.
running htc hero with damageless rom.
30. Pandalero wrote on April 23, 2010
Can’t even log in on Moto Droid since updating to new version. Had to uninstall update.
31. Mike wrote on April 23, 2010
How does this work for Droid? The app is preinstalled, which means that it doesn’t show as an app in the market that can be installed/uninstalled. Is there going to be a push?
32. Zach wrote on April 23, 2010
I installed the update and now it force closes every time i open the app. I uninstalled and reinstalled but it still force closes.PLEASE HELP!
33. Jonathan wrote on April 23, 2010
I just did a reinstall most everything works. Looks like they’ve added the ability to view photos instead of signing in through the mobile site. very cool
34. ernest leitch wrote on April 23, 2010
The updated for the facebook app doesn’t show up in the download part of the store if your phone came pre-installed with it (N1).
I haven’t had an issue with it crashing yet. Still missing events and gestures(finger swipe) for picture navigation. Still 3rd, maybe 4th, in terms of quality for the android version of facebook. iPhone is #1, webOS #2. Not sure if there is a winMo version and I don’t know if the blackberry app is any good.
35. Lewis wrote on April 23, 2010
They pushed a second update today, and it works fine now.
36. Zach wrote on April 23, 2010
damn, it was force closing on the eris if you updated earlier in the day but they put out another update that works…NICE WORK!
37. paris wrote on April 23, 2010
Still crashing even after the 2nd update today on my hero
38. paris wrote on April 23, 2010
they released a 3rd update its working for me fine on my hero
39. Melissa wrote on April 23, 2010
They didn’t eliminate the option to open your camera directly. It is the icon next to updating your status. :P They still need more upgrades like customization and looking at stuff without being directed to the mobile page!
40. Sergio wrote on April 23, 2010
We want chat!
41. Bobby wrote on April 23, 2010
progress is good people
42. jay36 wrote on April 24, 2010
The TRUE update to this app will be when it WILL NOT open up the web browser to view things.
Its so annoying that this app does that, i use the app to PREVENT using the web browser, not to use it WITH the app.
i hate to say it, BUT the iPhone facebook app is 100 times better.
43. Joshua wrote on April 24, 2010
Still think the app addressbook with their facebook plugin is the best out there. It eliminates all my “mafiawars” friends and only includes updates from people in my contact list. I can reply to them, review their photos, post my own all through the app “addressbook” made by asurion. Install that, then the facebook plugin and it will update all your facebook photos as contact photos and then you can decide how you want to be notified of new facebook msgs. Still my favorite app on android!!
44. Graeme Faulkner wrote on April 24, 2010
I like the pinch and zoom on photos but where is photo tagging?!
45. Rigelian wrote on April 24, 2010
The application is a big problem. After picking up the first few notifications, it stops receiving them altogether. It’s an application in serious need of improvement.
46. nonie wrote on April 24, 2010
I just use the FB Touch link in the browser – it works like a charm, and doesn’t take up any app space!
http://touch.facebook.com/#home.php
47. G8D wrote on April 24, 2010
New update fixed the FCs on my Hero :)
48. Alec wrote on April 24, 2010
Very impressed that they added multi-touch on photos. Did not expect that at all. good job facebook
49. Vicky wrote on April 24, 2010
hmmm.. that would help me. Was wounding how they missed that.
50. dave wrote on April 24, 2010
can someone please compare the news feed they see on the app with what they see on the site? I’m getting completely different results.
51. sally wrote on April 24, 2010
Who owns this app? I noticed that the Facebook page for the app says “Welcome to the home of the official Facebook for Android application”, but also “This application was not developed by Facebook”.
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=74769995908
52. Dave wrote on April 24, 2010
Anybody having a problem opening pictures in the news feed?
53. Steve wrote on April 25, 2010
Still a crappy app…
54. Andrew Tan wrote on April 25, 2010
After updates, the Facebook Widget no longer working.
Back to default one.
55. Brenton wrote on April 26, 2010
I don’t know if this always worked, but when you tap on a photo in a post, it takes you to the photo viewer IN the app, rather than the mobile web page. That always bugged me, and it’s nice to see it working.
Now, if they only could get swipe to work for moving from one image to the next.
56. Matt wrote on April 26, 2010
I have always gotten different results when using any facebook app. Using touch.facebook.com or just m.facebook.com always give me everything I need. I am not sure why anyone would want to use the lame apps that are out there.
57. Synessa wrote on April 26, 2010
Lovely, they removed the only ability I had to post pics to FB from my MT3G. The take photo button was the only way my phone would successfully upload pics.
58. grimdeath wrote on April 27, 2010
As others have stated the photo button is not gone only moved next to the “what’s on your mind” bar and if you get the force close screen choose “wait” and give it a little longer and it will finally work.
Working great now on my G1, the inbox is a welcome addition! Looks like some small cosmetic changes all over though.
59. lpcity32 wrote on April 30, 2010
Come on way behind. After using iPhone for so long this app still sucks
60. Ray wrote on July 8, 2010
Facebook force closes eveerytime it tries to log in. N1 Froyo 2.2
61. YesSi wrote on August 24, 2010
I tOtaly Hate the new UpdaTe for facebook android, when I open my notificatons it takes me to the computer page mode…and that sucks big time..=(