Facebook on the iPhone: 1M Downloaded, "Connect" Service Launched
iPhone users sure love them some Facebook. In just two weeks following the launch of Apple's App Store, Facebook's Director of Mobile, Jed Stremel announced that the Facebook App for iPhone has been downloaded over 1,000,000 times. Whether those are unique downloads, and whether all downloaders are now using it consistently aren't known, but Facebook remains in the top-ten list for free apps and doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon.
In fact, last week at Facebook's f8 conference they announced Facebook Connect, a new framework that would grant other iPhone apps (and their developers) the ability to log onto and use your Facebook account data. Depending on your views about convenience vs. security/privacy, this means you will either enjoy a single and consistent presence across a wider range of apps (one account to rule them all), or be even more paranoid about your personal information getting out of your control (one point of failure to leak it all).
Personally, I have a Facebook account but only visit it when I get an alert or need some info. I have the iPhone app, but like the WebApp before it, find MobileSafari a good enough browser I'll most often to just go straight to "just the internet" version. And while I'm all for "open social"-esque removal of walled gardens, I think it's promoting a cavalier attitude towards privacy, and try to remind myself that you can never un-release information.
What about you? Do you use Facebook? Do you use the Facebook iPhone app? What do you think about the idea of Connect?
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
| Tweet |
|
|
Next up →
Lightning Review: UnitsLeave a Reply
Note: Comments must be civil, respectful, and on-topic. If a comment does not add to the conversation, if it contains spam advertising, or inappropriate language or content, it will be removed. Insulting the topic, author, staff, site, network, or other commenters will result in the comment being marked as spam and potential prevent future comments from appearing on the site. Do not post as a business or your comment will likely be confused with spam. Comments containing links may be held for moderation. Relax, enjoy, and share in the discussion.
Nice post, Rene.... hmmmm... I would rather see an "opt out" option regarding privacy.
I'm sure there will be opt out options, now whether or not the ordinary user can find them is another question entirely.
I like the app much better than trying to use the web app or the full version on my iphone. I've found that my facebook usage has gone from ridiculous to "wow, I can't believe what I've become" since the introduction of the app, as I open it on average about once an hour.
I don't use facebook like that so I don't think I would need or use this.