iPad: Friendly for Facebook
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Friendly for Facebook is a free iPad app that attempts to make up for a lack of an official Facebook download for Apple's tablet.
For some time now we've found it odd that there isn't a proper iPad Facebook app. After all it's one if the most popular free iPhone apps and helps Facebook get a massive amount of mobile users. They've got a mobile optimised web page as well as an Android app. So why no iPad specific app?
Well when recently asked this, the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said that they loved the iPad, but didn't want to be tied any particular platform. They seemed to want to focus on ensuring that they're site worked in as many different type of browsers as possible.
Facebook.com certainly work well on the iPad. In fact it's a pretty similar experience to on a desktop running a modern web browser. There is one missing feature though: Facebook Chat.
If you can do without Chat though, is there any need for an iPad app? Surely the screen real estate of the iPad over the iPhone means that you can just stick to doing everything in Safari? Well you can, but sometimes bizarrely in the iOS world, a dedicated app just seems 'nicer'.
So in comes Friendly for Facebook, an app developed by Oecoway Inc. This app seems to rework the FaceBook site into an App form. It works rather well as well, even if the interface is a little Early Learning Centre in its looks.
It's a 'lite' version of 'Friendly Plus for Facebook' and one of many 'lite' versions becoming common on the App Store as a way of teasing buyers into trying before buying by developers.
When you first launch it requires you to Connect with Facebook through a familiar looking dialogue. Yep this is what will pop up whenever you wish to Connect a web app to your Facebook account, such as the BBC's iPlayer or Twitter.
After a progress dialog you are in and taken straight to the Live Feed page.
Straight away you spot the Closeable Ads Banner at the bottom of the screen. Well they have to pay for it somehow, interesting its not iAds.
There is lots that it does well: Photo's are nicely offered up via thumbnail and you can scroll through them easily. You can switch between the Latest News and Most Popular in your News Feed with a nice iOS style On/Off switch.
There are Buttons across the top for Home, Profile and Friends, as well as a 'Friendly' drop down which offers options, preferences and logging in and out.
It has small icons at the right hand top of the app to notify of Messages, Notifications and Friend Requests. All of which it can handle within the App. Occasionally if there is not an API for it, like for Facebook games, it will neatly open a Safari window within Friendly For Facebook and take you to the relevant page.
And it also does Facebook Chat.
So is it worth it on the iPad? Well put simply, yes. Although there is nothing 'wrong' with Facebook in Safari on the iPad (its very good), Apps always seem to feel better on iOS devices. In this for instance you can swipe up and down neatly on your News Feed and not worry about where you are in a zoomed in and out page. Essentially, its less clunky and feels more natural.
Downsides? Well sometimes I've found I've tried to send Messages or Confirm Friend Requests and its failed to do so, but not told me. Oecoway have been regularly updating this app though and I have noticed an increase in stability in recent versions.
It's also completely free. So on that basis we recommend giving it a Download. It's not going to waste you any time.
It gets a UsedMac Rating of 4/ 5
