Friend Me for Facebook – a Facebook app optimized for Android Tablets
by Toni McQuilken
Mar 19, 2012 1:33 PM –
Install
Friend Me for Facebook offers a tablet-optimized experience for your favorite social network. Friend Me was designed and created exclusively for the Android tablet Honeycomb platform.
Price: Free, In-app Purchase to Upgrade to Pro Version
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- You can have multiple accounts linked to the app.
- It is optimized for Android tablets.
- Most of the site is accessible in-app, rather than re-directing to the mobile site.
Cons
- Games, which is the part I wanted to have access to the most, is one of the main missing parts in the official app, just redirects to the mobile site, and runs slowly.
- While it didn’t happen every time, I did have my device do a force restart a few times running this app – it doesn’t happen at any other time or with any other app, so I have to assume this one caused it.
- The app pushed upgrading to the pro version messages quite a bit.
Features:
Friend Me for Facebook is actually a pretty decent mobile interface for the Facebook site. It’s obviously not the official Facebook app, and there are some pros and cons to that.
The biggest pro is probably the ability to have more than one account linked to it. If you manage several accounts – such as a personal and business page – the ability to have both in one place, that are easy to switch between, is a very nice touch. The app is also optimized for Android tablets – while the official Facebook app has gotten better about using the larger screen, it wasn’t designed from the ground up with that in mind, and Friend Me was. This means that it actually has a nice three-column layout, making it very easy to quickly navigate through it, and still get the status updates, photos and other information in a large enough format to really enjoy.
One thing I didn’t like about the app is how it handles Facebook Games. Now, games are a polarizing thing when it comes to Facebook – you either love them or hate them. If you hate them and never use that tab, then this part won’t make any difference to you. However, if you do like the games, you’ll be disappointed. Rather than having a way to load and play the games in the app, all it does is load the mobile site inside – including forcing you to sign into the mobile site even though you’re already signed in via the app. Now, the official app really doesn’t allow you to play the games either, but when I saw the tab in Friend Me, I got excited, only to be disappointed. I’d rather they didn’t include it at all, instead of the way it’s currently implemented.
Another thing that drove me a little crazy, in addition to the ads (which I expected) I found after I installed it is an in-app upgrade you can purchase – and the app pushes it, a lot. It popped up once when you open it, and then having the option in the settings would have been one thing, but it felt like I was constantly getting messages popping up urging me to upgrade, which got irritating pretty fast. Also worth noting – while it didn’t happen all the time, or even often, I did have my entire device go into a forced reboot a few times while using this app. It has never happened at any other time, or with any other program, so I have to think it was something I tried to do in Friend Me for Facebook that caused it.
Other than that, everything you’d be looking for in a Facebook app is here. You can post status updates, view your News feed, view profiles and view photos. You can even view and manage your groups from the app, which is nice.
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Friend Me Start
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Friend Me Status Update
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Friend Me Profile
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Friend Me Photos
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Friend Me News
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Friend Me Friends
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Friend Me Messages
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Friend Me Games
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Friend Me Link Share
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Friend Me Upgrade Message
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Friend Me Upgrade Message 2
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Friend Me Settings
Usefulness:
If you’re a Facebook junkie, especially if you have more than one account you manage, then you’ll find this to be a welcome app. The ability to log into multiple accounts very quickly and easily switch between them is, in my opinion, its biggest selling feature over the official app.
Ease of Use:
I actually found the app very easy to use and navigate. It’s very easy to find what you’re looking for, and the app itself is laid out based on the site – the terms and things you look for there are here, meaning there is no learning curve to get up and running if you’re used to Facebook.
Frequently Used:
This all comes down to how much of a junkie you are for Facebook. You’ll probably use this app at least once a day, and probably more if you enjoy communicating via the site. Really, the only thing you can’t do well is play games, but there isn’t ANY Android app yet that lets you do that well, so it’s nothing against this app in particular.
Interface:
On the far side are the basic tabs, giving you access to any section of the app, at any time. Then there are two more columns – one for a “list” view, and the third pops out if you have something larger to display, such as one photo out of the album.