Apple iPad Users Finally Get Facebook App
Long Delay Finally Over
It's been more than a year-and-a-half since former Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet. In the months that followed, hundreds of thousands bought up the slick touch screen device. All users of the hardware basked in the glow of Apple's enormous application (or 'app') library, a critical feature that set the iPad (and in recent months, iPad 2) apart from its many competitors (like Hewlett-Packard, whose TouchPad tablet lasted only a few months before falling victim to the mighty Apple device).
Unfortunately, there was one thing the popular iPad lacked: a Facebook app designed specifically for tablet users.
Well, that's all changed as of this week. On Monday, Facebook announced that iPad users could now access and download a new, native Facebook app designed specifically for that device. Asked why it took so darned long for the company to address this nagging need, Facebook brass shrugged off the question, implying that they just wanted it to work right the first time.
"We’re releasing it now because it’s done," said Bret Taylor, Facebook's chief technology officer.
So, what's to like about this new version of the ubiquitous Facebook? Well, for one it's tailor-made for navigation on a touch screen tablet like the iPad. Secondly, it improves on the already existing iPhone Facebook app by adding access to Facebook's enormous library of mini-games. Porting Facebook from the PC to the iPhone smartphone proved somewhat tricky, and in order to make the transition Facebook management had to ditch titles like 'Farmville' and 'Mafia Wars'. Thankfully, that's changed for the iPad, a move that will surely satisfy users of both the site and the device.
But just before you jump for joy over the idea of taking your Farmville game on the road with you, do note that Facebook hasn't guaranteed that all games will work -- just some. The finer details of this stipulation will become clearer in the coming weeks, to be sure.
Other features: you can chat online with friends and you can get constant access to friend activity via News Feed notifications.
There is one feature the iPad app shares with its iPhone predecessor, and it's something we should all be happy about: both are absolutely free through Apple’s App Store.
But it's not just iPad users who will be getting access to Facebook on their tablet devices. According to Facebook, the company is also working for a similar application to be made available to owners of Android tablet hardware, as well.
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