Top Applications for Using Facebook on Your Android Phone

Written by:  • Edited by: Simon Hill
Updated Jul 21, 2010
• Related Guides: Android | Facebook

Now that you have an Android phone you can check your Facebook on the go! However, there are a ton out there on the Android Market. Which one should you use? This article gives a rundown of most of the options and names a winner at the end.

Too Many Facebook Apps!!

When I first got my Android phone I knew I'd need an app for Facebook. After all, you now have a cool phone, you might as well show it off to your friends by posting comment on the go. However, I quickly became frustrated. The Android Market has far too many Facebook apps to choose from, some of which cost money. Not only this but some of these applications appeared to just bring up the Facebook website, which I could just as easily do through the browser. So what is the best Facebook app for Android phones?

In this review I will run through the Facebook apps that appear towards the top of the list of a search for "Facebook" on the Android Market that way you can see what these apps really are before you go through the trouble of downloading them. We'll start with some of the worst and then head towards the better ones. At the end we'll decide which one is the best for you to use!

Facebook Touch
Rating Poor

Facebook Touch Facebook Touch is one of those deceiving applications that really does nothing at all. As its own application description says it is only a wrapper for the normal Facebook website. It looks just like the normal website except it has "Facebook touch" at the top. It comes in an ad-supported version or one that costs £0.50--so basically by using it you are just paying someone else to use a Facebook site you could just as easily use in the browser that comes on your phone. Don't get it!

Facebook Plus
Rating Poor

The Facebook Plus Widget This application is rather confusing and poorly formatted. Instead of functioning through an application it forces you to work through a widget on the screen (so you can't have a direct link to the program). When you try to open the application it tells you to place a widget on a screen. Once you do this it gives you the sign-in screen and lets you select how often the app updates.

The widget wouldn't be a bad idea if it didn't look so horrible. It shows my profile picture--horribly stretched--followed by buttons to access the home menu, update status, view notifications, and upload a picture. These buttons are too small for easy selection and not terribly functional. Once you do click on one what comes up is a poorly formatted version of Facebook that looks crowded together.

The app has both a free version and a paid version but I don't see why you'd bother.

FBook
Rating Below Average

Fbook To get full functionality with FBook you have to buy the app, which costs $1.50 otherwise you're running with a lesser version with ads. Is it worth the bit of money?

The app is pretty simple. It consists of two tabs at the top, one says "Facebook" and the other says "Chat." Each one requires that you log in, which I immediately found suspicious. It quickly became clear that this app is doing something very simple: for the Facebook tab it is simply opening the mobile Facebook website. For the chat tab it is opening the normal Facebook website and the centering you on the part that has the chat. This in itself isn't horrible--it is a pain to try to get on the normal website to chat using a browser. So if you like using FB chat then you might actually consider using this program. But most likely your friends on Facebook can also text message or IM using another client, which any phone will have built in, so it's not really worth the $1.50

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Comments

Showing all 3 comments
 
Justin Nov 20, 2010 9:03 AM
Thank you
Concise, readable and very useful. Thank you.
Sandip Nov 4, 2010 10:27 PM
Thanks
Helped me a lot while choosing an app for Facebook.
Andrew Gill Jul 28, 2010 9:14 AM
great article
I've had my Desire for three days now and I'm finding it such a change from my iPhone. This was clear, easy to read and helped me find out just what I needed.
 
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