Babbler for Facebook

by Antonio Wells Jul 17, 2009 9:50 AM – 10 Comments

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Babbler for Facebook is the first full-featured native Facebook client. See/post on walls, comment on posts, share photos and videos straight from your phone!

Price: Free, $1.49

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

…and the Gripes begin…

Babbler for Facebook Android App connects you with some Facebook features. Unfortunately, upon time of review, I didn’t get the Facebook experience the developer intended. I had a lesser experience than Andrew of Androinica when he reviewed Babbler. There were many features missing information for sections; for example Personal, Contact, Education & Work sections were listed in Friends’ profiles yet no information populated.

One of the biggest issues I uncovered was the app is actually using Android WebViews extracting information with the Facebook API. The “Inbox” tab on the app tapps into the Facebook mobile website directly. Here is where I saw the “T-Mobile Tzones” link and wondered, “hey… what is Tzones doing here, I have a 3G data plan“? So I clicked it, which brought me to the Tzones homepage, which had a Facebook link… so I clicked it. To my avail, since I’d been logged into Facebook already via Babbler, it took me to the Facebook mobile website m.facebook.com. As I continue to browse the official mobile site (mind you, this is still all within the Babbler app) I start to see the missing experience…

Babbler didn’t show my Wall nor friends’ Wall info. Later I found out my test comment on my Wall did not post. ;-(
In the official mobile site, I could see all Friends profile sections filled; Personal, Contact, Education & Work, etc.
Photos loaded up with easy navigation between photos and albums, a feature Babbler lacked.
In Babbler, the Inbox didn’t show my most recent messages… you guessed it… Facebook mobile did.
Babbler lacked a Search feature. And though it may be there, I didn’t see where Friend Requests would be housed.
Babbler can’t update your Status.
Babbler is slow.
One thing Babbler can do is mobile photos/videos uploads from stored pics/vids from your phone or camera (later found out my Photo never uploaded). It can also to Android Notifications.

I think more of the blame should go to Facebook’s API as I have yet to see a 3rd party app that integrates FB well.

Mark my review as an unfair comparison (Facebook vs Babbler) if you want, but our sites’ mission is to offer fair and unbiased reviews. Therefore, if you can browse the official mobile app for free and have a better user experience with more features… then that’s worth mentioning.

: Babbler for Facebook Write on Walll Feed

: Babbler for Facebook Friends List

: Babbler for Facebook Profile

: Babbler for Facebook Inbox (wrap of Facebook mobile site)

: Babbler for Facebook Friends Details

: Babbler for Facebook Photos

: Babbler for Facebook Friends Events

AndroidTapp.com Rating

(2.2 out of 5)

Should you Download Babbler for Facebook? Try Babbler for Facebook, honestly still feels like Beta and would recommend official Facebook Mobile instead.

Developer: Kalicinscy.com

Tags: Android Apps, AndroidTapp.com App Review, Babbler for Facebook, Facebook

Categorised in: Social

10 Comments

By Lawrence on July 17, 2009 at 10:53 am:

Please review Bloo – http://fbandroid.wordpress.com/
It’s native, not using webview

Reply
- By Android Tapp on July 17, 2009 at 11:27 am:
  
  Bloo coming up next…
  
  Reply
By monsieurgrand02 on July 17, 2009 at 11:11 pm:

Not even remotely worth paying for…

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By Toddp on July 18, 2009 at 9:08 pm:

When did you write this? A month ago? App is not even close to what you reviewed. Only link to mobile site is inbox. You MAY want to reinstall and redo review.

You are waaay off on features and use fella…

Babbler today if feature rich. More then Bloo [Today, anyway]
Review is a total miss. You reviewed beta app….

Reply
- By Android Tapp on July 18, 2009 at 11:52 pm:
  
  In contradiction, I recently downloaded Babbler to provide this review. An app shouldn’t require multiple uninstall/reinstalls to get a decent user experience. I will check in on this app but will sitck to and recommend m.facebook.com … faster, more features, better
  
  Reply
By Max on July 19, 2009 at 6:53 am:

Most horrid review on this site. Babbler is a very good application, which may be rough around the edges. But it works. I don’t have half the problems you are stating here.

While its not perfect, its good. Better than using the mobile site.

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By monsieurgrand02 on July 20, 2009 at 2:11 am:

Actually, this review is pretty darn close.

For a paid app, it lacks A LOT of what it should have. Take a look at the reviews in the market. Too many people are requesting things that this app should already include. And too many people are complaining of how slow it is.

Like I said, not even worth paying for. The mobile site is so much more convenient and complete.

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By Hellberg on July 20, 2009 at 4:58 am:

I have to agree with this review also. Although Babbler indeed has quite a lot of features, it’s still lacking some and most important: the user interface is awful, it doesn’t offer much improvement over using the mobile web at all.

Bloo on the other hand, well it may not have all the features that Babbler has, but it has the most important ones imho and Bloo implements them in a VERY nice way, much much better than using the mobile site or Babbler. When comparing just the UI in Bloo and Babbler, Bloo makes Babbler look like crap.

Still, it’s a pity that so many features seems to be missing from the facebook API, if this wasn’t the case both Bloo and Babbler would most certainly be a lot more feature-rich.

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By Jackson H on July 31, 2009 at 9:52 am:

This review is wayyyyyyy off. Babbler is very clearly the best Facebook app available for Android at this moment. It lags sometimes, and there are some rough edges, but compared to Bloo and the others, Babbler is actually *useable.*

Reply