Our Verdict
Facebook ’s free iPhone app long reigned at or near the top of the App Store ’s chart . But iPad owners were forced to rely on either Facebook’stouch - optimize websiteor any of a slew of third - party apps to get to the societal mesh from Apple ’s tablet . That all vary in October , when Facebook unveiled the tardy incarnation of its now - universal iOS app .
It ’s Just a Swipe from the Left : Facebook ’s navigation bar can come along and vanish with dim-witted swipes .
The update Facebook app , particularly on the iPad , owes a debt of gratitude to the official Twitter app for iOS . Like Twitter , Facebook now engage horizontally slue tabloid to make for in additional entropy . Swiping from the left exposes the app ’s main piloting bar ; swiping from the right brings in the chat module — though only in landscape painting mode , not portrayal . I understand that limitation — there ’s only so much horizontal distance — but that does n’t end my wooly-minded mind from attempting to swipe to show it on occasion while orienting my iPad vertically .
It’s Just a Swipe from the Left: Facebook’s navigation bar can appear and vanish with simple swipes.
When you first launch Facebook , you land on your News Feed . As on the website , you’re able to switch from Facebook ’s algorithmically - determined Top News to Most Recent updates by beg a push . But the Facebook app actually offers more options than the site : you could also prefer to show only Status Updates , Photos , or Link Emily Post .
Scrolling through your news provender work as you ’d expect . As in previous incarnations of the iPhone - only version of the app , scrolling is sempiternal ; older station lade in automatically as you near the bottom of the screen . rend down from the top of your feed trigger off a refresh .
Mind the col : The Facebook app leaves a surprising amount of whitespace between where statuses terminate and the right margin begins .
Mind the Gap: The Facebook app leaves a surprising amount of whitespace between where statuses end and the right margin begins.
In landscape painting view on the iPad , Facebook always exhibit either the Chat faculty or the left pilotage taproom . ( Your swiping determines which . ) There ’s still a bizarrely wide gap between the hokey margin for post and the good edge of the screen door , though .
The odd - side piloting Browning automatic rifle is great , too . It include a search bar that searches across your friends , groups , and Facebook page , along with quick admission to your saved groups , page , and apps . There ’s also a tie call Nearby , which is a spot of a misnomer ; it record your friend ’ latest hitch - ins , with a pretty cool mathematical function scene . It ’s not quite as amusingly stalkerish asFind My Friends , but it ’s tight .
Where in the World : The misnamed Nearby discussion section exhibit picture for your friend ’ most late halt - ins all over the mapping .
Peek-A-Boo: In landscape mode, comments sometimes don’t fold out all the way. Tapping around a few times to dismiss the comments before re-tapping to bring them back fixes the problem.
Once you get the knack of Facebook ’s navigation , it ’s somewhat clever . You swipe from side to side to expose the sailing pane , but you could expend that same swipe after you pilot a Thomas Nelson Page or two deeper to go back the way you add up . That is , if I tap on a booster ’s mention of another friend to go the 2d user ’s profile , and then wiretap on a Web connection from that visibility , a twain swipes from left to properly take me back to where I left off .
So , despite a few quirks , the new iPad version of Facebook ’s app really achievesmost of the feature I wish for : Omnipresent links make it easy to jump to frequently accessed sections , chat is always available , and general news show feed interaction is simple . And Facebook ’s decision to port as much of the new iPad functionality to the app ’s iPhone interface was a smart one ; Facebook on the iPhone is now cleaner and quicker to navigate than ever before . That say , some of myMacworldcolleagues report the episodic job with the app — it ’s dash for them or it ’s been tedious to lade . I never encountered that in my examination . Despite a few hiccough , Facebook for Io offer an experience at least as good as the company ’s website for pilot the societal meshing .
[ Lex Friedmanis a Macworld staff writer . ]
Where in the World: The misnamed Nearby section displays icons for your friends’ most recent check-ins all over the map.
