Facebook lets prospective HTC First buyers know they can turn off Facebook Home
Facebook Home, while initially looking very promising, might be Mark Zuckerberg and Co’s greatest failure yet. Look nowhere else than the app’s 2 and 1/2-star Play Store rating to see that not everyone has taken to the homescreen replacement. Turns out there just wasn’t too many people excited at the idea of having Some E Cards and countless memes posted directly to their phone and/or lock screen.
Once the hippest place to be online, it seems Facebook is just a mass exodus away from drifting down the same road as Myspace. The general disinterest in Facebook Home could be the early warning signs. Look to none other than the HTC First, a stock Android device that comes with the added “benefit” of having Facebook Home pre-installed. Its recent indefinite “delay” overseas let us know that, not only is HTC aware of weak demand for the device, but that Facebook might know as well.
Jumping onto the Facebook Mobile page, you’ll find all kinds of useful tricks on getting the most enjoyment out of the HTC First — including Facebook letting potential HTC First buyers know that Facebook Home can be turned off. Almost as if they suspect this could be the reason people aren’t buying the device. Ouch.
Whether or not this was Facebook simply addressing a commonly asked question about the device, or if they’re about ready to throw in the towel with Home, at the very least it seems someone’s listening. If only Facebook had a little more time in the oven and developers could have, at the very least, included functionality many of us have grown accustomed to since Android 1.5 (like folders and widgets), it may have done a little better for itself. Aside from being Facebook (can’t really change that part now, can they?), what badly needed features would Home have to incorporate before you’d consider installing?