Since the iPad’s launch, users have been forced to either use Safari or the iPhone’s version of Facebook to keep up with the social network. Finally, an application has arrived that allows users to navigate their Facebook account while taking advantage of the iPad’s screen real estate. While not perfect, Friendly – Facebook Browser (99 cents) is a great solution to your Facebook needs.
The main page has three main tabs: Live Feed, Events and Places. Live Feed can be toggled to display the News Feed as well. From the main screen, you can also access your Profile, Friends List and Inbox. Your feed is presented nicely. When viewing photos, they appear in a new screen with the ability to swipe left and right through the images. Videos play right inside the app, and right inside the post.
Everything seems to run well. The entire experience is fluid, and the interface is intuitive, for the most part. There is one little issue I had with the Chat feature. First of all, Chat is difficult to find. It’s a small icon in the lower right of the screen. It should definitely be a menu option, instead. Also, when chatting, there are no sound notification options. Lastly, while typing in a chat, the Friends List does not scroll accurately. It seems as though this is a bug that might easily be fixed with an update. However, even with these flaws, the Chat function does work.
Overall, this is a great application for experiencing Facebook on the iPad. It includes all of the core functionality that is necessary for a productive Facebook session. Until Facebook comes out with its own application, this is the solution you’ll want to use.
