Thoughts On Facebook For Android

Last week, Facebook released a long-awaited revamp of their Android App. Prior to the update, the app’s feature set was rather embarrassing. It failed to offer a decent interface and lacked many features that Facebook’s official app for iOS and webOS devices had. When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, made the transition from an iPhone to an Android device, the blogosphere expected an immediate revamp. Fortunately, that’s exactly what happened.

According to Facebook’s change log, version 1.3 brings new features including “video playback, the ability to view and RSVP for events, respond to friend requests without leaving the app, and an updated homepage.” Much like the famous notification drawer on Android devices, the Facebook app adds another draggable “Notifications” bar at the bottom. Oddly, clicking on a notification redirect users to http://touch.facebook.com in Android’s native web browser. There’s also a photo reel at the bottom of the app’s home screen, which displays newly uploaded images. The updated app also makes it easier to update your status and search for friends.

While Android users initially welcomed these new features, forums were soon filled with complains. Due to a bug, the application began causing rapid battery drain. Many users resorted to uninstalling the app entirely. Three days later, Facebook officially recognized the issue and released an update (version 1.3.1) to solve the problem. And within a week, Facebook released yet another update, this time adding support for Android OS 1.5 devices and claiming to fix other bugs.