Facebook is the most popular photo sharing service on the web so it comes as no surprise that they released an app dedicated to the photo aspect of Facebook -- it's called Facebook Camera. With Facebook Camera, you can easily share multiple photos to Facebook, add filters to them, tag your friends, and view a newsfeed restricted just to photos posted by you and your friends. And, of course, you can also leave comments and likes on photos.

The main screen of Facebook Camera is the news feed, except that this news feed only contains photos, not status updates and links like in Facebook for iPhone. You can sort the stream to show photos posted by your friends or just your own photos.

The appearance of the photos in the stream is similar to the new look that was recently implemented into Facebook for iPhone. The photos are full-width and wider than the white background. Each photo is also cropped as a square.

At the bottom of each photo you'll see a thumbs up button to "like" it, a comments button to leave comments, and the number of likes and comments is also displayed. When you tap on the numbers, a popup will appear that shows who liked the photo as well as all the comments. You can also leave a comment of your own. This button actually does the exact same thing as the speech bubble button.

Tapping on the photo will display it on a black background with the caption at the bottom as well as buttons to "like", comment, and tag.

At the top of the feed, you'll see a strip of photos from your Camera Roll and a button to launch the camera. Sliding down on the news feed will slide it off the screen so you can scroll through all the photos in your Camera Roll.

Tapping a photo will display it bigger and allow you to crop, tag, or add filters to it. These filters are remarkably similar to Instagram's filters, but this is to be expected since Facebook recently purchased Instagram. Once you've edited the photo to your liking, you can select it with the checkmark button or share it. If you select it, you'll be taken back to the grid of your Camera Roll photos so that you can repeat the process with more photos.

Once you're ready to share the photos, just tap the share button. This screen looks similar to the photo sharing screen on Facebook for iPhone. It will display small thumbnails of all your selected photos, let you say something about them, add a location, add friends, and adjust privacy settings.

The good

• Beautifully designed
• News feed displays either your friends photos or just your own
• Upload multiple photos at once
• Edit photos by cropping and adding filters
• Tag friends
• Adjust privacy settings before posting
• Leave comments and likes on photos

The bad

• Speech bubble and comment/like count buttons perform the exact same thing

The conclusion

I must say that I'm rather surprised with how much I like this app. I do nothing but complain about Facebook for iPhone, but Facebook appears to have done an outstanding job with Facebook Camera. It's not an Instagram replacement, but it's as great addition to Facebook. Now I'm just curious to see how long before these filters become available on the web version of Facebook.

Free - Download Now

It's been about a week since Facebook released Facebook Pages Manager, and now Facebook has announced Facebook Camera -- an app dedicated to viewing and sharing photos to Facebook. The big talk on the internet, however, is that this app comes shortly after Facebook's acquisition of Instagram. This is particularly interesting because Facebook Camera allows you to add filters to your photos before uploading -- these filters are strikingly similar to Instagram's filers.

Let's take a look. Here's Facebook's Cream filter next to Instagram's Valencia filter.

And Facebook's Copper next to Instagram's Earlybird.

And Facebook's Cool next to Instagram's Hudson.

No words are even needed to describe the similarities.

So the real question becomes -- did Facebook copy Instagram before buying it, or did Facebook buy Instgram to copy it? I'm inclined to believe it's some combination of the two. There's no doubt that Facebook has been working on this app since well before it purchased Instagram, but my bet is that it was when they started working on the filters they would include with the app that they pursued an acquisition of Instagram. Although the Facebook Camera's filters are not identical to Instagram's, some of them are strikingly similar. As someone who regularly uses Instagram, I noticed the similarities instantly. In fact, before comparing them side-by-side, I thought they were exact replicas.

Which brings to my next question: will Facebook Camera ever include the exact same filters as Instagram? Is this something Facebook should even consider? Some have argued that Facebook is competing with itself by introducing Facebook Camera, which is true in many ways. But ultimately, I think even if both apps include the exact same filters, they will both be independently successful. With the risk of sounding like a snob, the quality of photos on Facebook are not generally as good as Instagram. People typically choose to use Instagram when they want to share a photo they think is particularly good or some fancy collage they created. Facebook, on the other hand, is where people share anything and everything, including random memes and photos from the internet.

What's your take on this? Did Facebook copy Instagram before buying it, or did Facebook buy Instgram to copy it? Was this even a good move by Facebook?

Free - Download Now

Last week, I reviewed the new Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone app, but the secret is that I actually downloaded it from the Canadian App Store because it wasn't yet available in the U.S. Well, I'm happy to report that Facebook Pages Manager is now available in the U.S. App Store. It popped up earlier today, but almost immediately disappeared, but it seems to be here for good this time.

The introduction of Facebook Pages Manager has also brought some new changes to the "normal" Facebook for iPhone app via a stealth update. Now you'll see a message at the top that advertises the new app for Pages and a button that will take you directly to the App Store to download it.

left: Facebook for iPhone - right: Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone

There's also been a few other cosmetic changes in the past weeks that some users haven't seen until today. The most noticeable of these changes is the giant photos and that posts are separated by much more than just a thin line. Images are now wider than the rest of the post and shown at full width. The also have some subtle shadowing that makes it look like the photos are laying on top of the post. Additionally, if a user posts more than one photo at a time, Facebook for iPhone will display them as a collage of two or three photos like you're used to seeing on the web.

Strangly, this new look is not present in the the new Facebook Pages Manager app.

For those who have a Facebook Page, what do you think of the new app? Personally, I think it's a step in the right direction, but it's still missing some key elements like messages and news feeds, but hopefully we'll see those features coming in the future.

What about the new look to Facebook for iPhone? Do you like it? I'm a huge fan of photos and appreciate the new focus that Facebook is trying to place on them, but I do think it could've been done a little better cosmetically.

Free - Download Now

Thanks John

Facebook has officially announced their initial public offering on the stock market with ticker symbol FB on the NASDAQ. The starting price will be $38 each of the 421,233,615 common shares, which makes their initial valuation $104 billion -- an awful lot considering they had $3.7 billion in revenue last year. This is the largest internet IPO ever, and the seventh biggest in the world, but what does it mean for Apple?

The first thing that that struck me when I heard about the Facebook IPO was, "Damn, I would really hate to miss the boat on that one and be like one of those guys kicking themselves later for not buying into Apple way back in the early days." Of course, there's plenty of conflict of interest in our spheres when it comes to stuff like that, so I steer clear, but it's something of a moot point considering major investment banks will have first crack at the stock and likely inflate the price well beyond $38 before individuals have a chance to snag some stock. There's also bound to be an inordinate amount of hype that is likely to level off in the first couple of weeks, but you never know -- it could just keep climbing and climbing.

The late Steve Jobs said he admired Mark Zuckerberg for not selling out, and that he thought Facebook was really the only social network worth talking about. Besides that, it's easy to see a lot of similarities between the two -- both experienced a huge amount of success in the technology industry at an early age, both practiced peculiar eating habits, and both dropped out of college (though retained a love of the arts). Zuckerberg's net worth blew past Steve Jobs' long ago; as of March last year, Jobs was worth $8.3 billion, while Zuckerberg was worth $13.5 billion.

Despite the similarities of their CEOs, Apple and Facebook aren't likely to be butting heads any time soon; despite persistent rumors to the contrary the closest thing Facebook has ever been to making a phone was having a branded hardware button on the HTC ChaCha. iTunes has Ping, which is a social network for sharing what music you're listening to, but that hasn't been particularly active in the year and a half since its inception. Interestingly enough, Facebook and Apple had a falling out over Ping integration awhile back, but that seems to be the most volatility we've seen between the companies to date.

That said, while it's unlikely that Facebook's IPO will directly be affecting Apple, the revenue Facebook generates could make the social networking giant even harder to ignore. The last version of iOS included fairly deep Twitter integration, and it would be hard to imagine iOS 6 being announced at WWDC without some significant and similar integration with Facebook. (Something that was rumored to have been attempted, then scrapped as far back as iOS 4.)

How do you guys see the trajectories of these tech giants crossing? Will they keep existing relatively peaceably in their own respective spheres? For a long time, Google and Apple got along well enough in their separate industries, but it didn't take long for them to start bumping into one another; how long until Facebook and Apple start doing the same?

Source: Facebook

Now you can manage your Facebook business and fan Pages with a dedicated app that lets you view insights

Facebook for iPhone and iPad has a slew of problems, but now poor Pages management can be crossed off that list with the introduction of Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone. It's very similar to the normal Facebook app with the addition of being able to view Insights about your Page and manage admins.

Before Facebook Pages Manager, users would have to use the original Facebook app to view their Pages, but didn't have any access to admin controls. Now when you visit your Page with the Facebook for iPhone, you'll see an announcement at the top announcing the new app with a link to App Store.

As previously mentioned, Facebook Pages Manager is very similar to its older brother with the side-panel design and profile page view. Just like the main Facebook for iPhone app, Facebook Pages Manager also doesn't show the cover photo to your Page.

There is one thing you'll notice missing from Facebook Pages Manger, though -- messages. At the top of the screen you'll find the buttons to see who has recently liked your Page and notifications, but the messages button is absent. This is a shame, especially since Facebook's dedicated Messages app also doesn't support messages for Pages.

When viewing your Page's timeline, you can sort by everyone's posts, posts made by your Page, or hidden posts.

From the side-panel, you can select between the Pages you manage and look at the Insights for the selected Page and manage its Admins.

The Insights screen tells you how many likes you have, the number of people talking about your Page, weekly total reach, and a graph of your trends.

The good

• A dedicated app for Page management is great
• Facebook for iPhone users are already family with it
• View Insights, including graph of trends
• Manage admins

The bad

• No cover photos
• No access to page messages
• Can look up photo albums
• Can't upload photos to a specific photo album
• No iPad support

The conclusion

I'll admit that when I first heard that Facebook released a new app, I let out a little groan. But once I realized it was an app for managing Pages, I actually got a little excited since managing Pages on the main Facebook app is terrible. So far, I'm impressed with Facebook Pages Manager -- just rather surprised that they left out messages. But I guess I'd rather them leave it out then to introduce it with a bunch of bugs. Hopefully Facebook updates it soon.

Facebook Pages Manager is not yet available in the US App Store, but it should be soon. It's available now! Go get it!

Free - Download Now

iMore's authoritative guide to the very best, absolutely free social networking apps for iPhone and iPod touch

Looking for great free social networking apps for your iPhone or iPod touch? The App Store is home to over half a million apps and games, and a surprising number of them are available for free. Some of the most popular free apps are -- surprise, surprise -- free social networking apps. We're talking Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Path, and more. So start reading, and then start downloading!

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social network on the planet, and it's always been one of the most popular free apps on the iPhone. Inside the free Facebook app, you can update your status, view photos, and check into your location. You can also keep up with your news feed, messages, events, pages, chat, as well as upload your photos and videos, and much, much more. (And if you're looking for more friends, check out our Facebook name swap thread!)

• Download Now

Twitter

Twitter and the iPhone go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and the free, official Twitter app for iPhone is the best way to get started finding cool celebrities and interesting internet personalities to follow, and trending topics to get involved with. (And be sure to check out our Twitter name swap thread to find other iMore members to tweet with!)

• Download Now

Twitterrific

Twitterrific was the very first Twitter app for iPhone and it remains one of the best to this day. With a combined view for the ultimate in Twitter reading experiences, Tweetmarker support, and and iPad and Mac version, If you're not brand new to Twitter and want at free Twitter app with a less mainstream, more traditional focus, then you want Twitterrific.

• Download Now

Google+

The free Google+ app for iPhone gives you instant access to your Google account, and instant uploads for your photos. Share to your circles, read updates from your stream, and join mobile hangouts.

• Download Now

LinkedIn

With the LinkedIn app for iPad, you will have on-the-go access to your professional network. You can keep up with the latest news and keep up with your groups and share content.

• Download now

Path

Path is a free Smart Journal app that helps you share life with the ones you love — your thoughts, the music you’re listening to, where you are, who you’re with, when you wake and when you sleep, and beautiful high quality photos and videos

• Download now

Pinterest

Pinterest is the new, rapidly growing, free social network that let's you pin photos, articles, recipes, or anything you think is cool, to your virtual pinboard. With the free Pinterest for iPhone app, you can view the pins of your friends, repin, like, and comment on your favorite pins, and pin directly from your camera.

• Download Now

Soundcloud

Almost every social networking app lets you share photos. The free Soundcloud app for iPhone lets you share music, voice memos, noises, and more. Record them where ever you are and share them to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more.

• Download now

Find my Friends

Find My Friends lets you easily locate your friends and family from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Whether you're on a family trip to a theme park or just want to meet up with some acquaintances for a drink, Find my Friends can make sure everyone knows where everyone else is.

• Download now

More free iPhone apps

For dozens of additional free iPhone apps, including free instant messenger and communications apps, education apps, entertainment apps, finance apps, fun and games apps, health and fitness apps, kids apps, music apps, navigation and location apps, news apps, photography apps, productivity apps, reading apps, shopping apps, sports apps, travel apps, and general utility apps, see here:

• Best free iPhone apps

Leanna Lofte contributed significant sections and photographs to this article.

The Pop Video pico projector is a new accessory from Micron Technology, Inc. that claims to deliver the big screen experience to your iPhone or iPod touch. The accessory clips onto your iPhone or iPod touch and turns it into a projector allowing you to display a lot of your devices content on a projector screen or wall. The video resolution is qHD which is 960 x 540 pixels.

The sleek and portable PoP Vide pico projector is the ideal iPhone or iPod touch accessory to share your favorite photos, movies, TV programs, and video clips! The PoP Video connects directly to your iPhone or iPod touch without messy cords. PoP Video™ is for anyone who enjoys simple and fun entertainment through projecting humor, interests, experiences, and social networking. It's not about the device but rather the person using it...

If you fancy getting your hands on one of these, you can pre-order them now for a cost of $99.  They are compatible with the third and fourth generation iPod touch and the iPhone 4 and 4S.

Source: Pop Video

June 11. That's the date we've long suspected but just this week had confirmed. Apple's 2012 World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) is now official hurtling towards us (or us towards it). But it's not the only things going on this week, so let's get to it.

WWDC 2012 and iOS 6

Apple announced WWDC 2012 at 5:30am Cupertino, California (PDT) time, less than 50 days before the June 11 start date, with a $1600 ticket price, and it still sold out in 2 hours. Many developers and interested parties had created scripts that would look for any change in Apple's WWDC website and alert them immediately. Others signed up for text message notification services. Still others networked with friends, family, peers, and others to keep constant vigil and light the web on fire the moment tickets went live.

Some got them, some didn't. No one seemed thrilled with the process. Probably not even at Apple. The list of problems are easy to identify -- too much demand, not enough availability, and a high stress, no-notice acquisition process. Solutions are harder to come by.

For gadget enthusiasts, however, the only real problem is anticipation. With WWDC comes Apple's annual keynote. In years past it's introduced the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. Last year it introduced iOS 5 and iCloud, but no new hardware.

And this year?

iMore has heard that, once again, there won't be any new iOS devices this summer, but like last year there's a lot of software for Apple to spotlight. No doubt we'll see OS X Mountain Lion get it's first public demonstration. We should also see iOS 6, or whatever Apple calls the next version of its mobile operating system. There was no iOS SDK event like there was in 2008, 2009, and 2010, so just like 2011 we're expecting WWDC to see the launch of the first iOS 6 beta.

And that should be interesting to say the least.

I'll be there all week, along with our apps editor, Leanna Lofte, and my co-host on the iPhone Live and Iterate podcasts, Seth Clifford.

Google Drive

Google Drive is finally here. Unlike Nokia Drive, which is a turn-by-turn navigation service, Google Drive is a cloud storage service. (English is funny, but not as funny as branding in English.) Based on how it's currently set up, it could also be called Google Docs+, but at this point I'm just happy it's not Google Play Drive.

And it's not bad. Prices are more than competitive and if there's anything Google knows, it's how to store data at scale. Some might have philosophical problems with the way Google monetizes all that stored data, but nothing's really free. If you don't want to pay with money, you're going to pay with access to your demographic and other data. Everyone has to decide from themselves what's a fair price and how they're willing to pay it.

Personally, I'm not switching away from Dropbox any time soon. While Google Drive is cheaper, Dropbox has momentum. All my stuff is already in there, most of the apps I use are already integrated with it, and Google Drive isn't better enough to make switching everything over anywhere near worth it.

I will add it to the mix, however, much as I did iCloud. Right now I'll use it as a big online scratch disk and see if anything further evolves from there.

A lot of that will depend on how long it takes the iPhone and iPad apps to ship, and how good they are. Sadly, I've come not to expect much...

Why can't great companies make great mobile apps?

Let's be perfectly blunt -- most of Google's iOS apps have been terrible at launch and haven't improved much since. About the nicest thing you could say about them is they make sure Facebook isn't alone in buggy apps from major corporations that should know better and be better. And I don't get it. These are two of the biggest, smartest, most talented, and certainly wealthiest technology companies in the world and they can't make a killer iOS app between them?

Indie developers, unimaginably more limited in resources, literally code circles around Facebook and Google when it comes to mobile. Look at Tweetbot. Look at Twitterrific. Look at Tweetie (before Twitter bought it). Look at webOS, which cash-strapped Palm put together on a shoe-string and a dream. Facebook for iPhone was mortally wounded when the original developer, Joe Hewitt, left the project and while it's improved slowly over time, it's not where it needs to be or should be. Not by a long shot.

Google has bought iOS apps (and canned them), Facebook bought Instagram, but neither has shown they have what it takes to transition from web companies to mobile companies. They're mobile immigrants, not mobile natives, and they're not enculturating well.

But mobile isn't just their future, it's the future. They need to do whatever it takes to nail mobile apps, and now.

Google has a chance with Google Drive for iOS to show us they're more than a wafer thin UIWebView wrapper and a terrible web-based authentication system. I sincerely hope they do.

Features

Lots of great stuff to shine the spotlight on this week.

• Siri co-founder talks to iMore about the future of technology, mobile interfaces, and implementing Siri: Ally got a chance to hear Dag Kittlaus speak and ask him some questions. If you haven't read it already, read it now!
• Best free iPhone games: Simon entered the wilds of the iPhone App Store, and hunted down and captured the very best free games available.
• Stellar Q2 2012 highlights why Apple is a must-own tech stock: Chris U. goes over Apple's killer second quarter to help us make better sense of the crazy high numbers.
• Ultimate guide to iCloud: If you've got questions about iCloud, the whole iMore team came together to bring you answers.

Ultimate guide to iCloud

Speaking of the Ultimate Guide to iCloud -- we got a lot of feedback on it. It was one of the longest articles we've ever posted and for a lot of you it was simply too long to be manageable. So we listened and we made some changes. Instead of stuffing everything into one post, we've now broken it up into several parts. The main article is now an index and each section has its own dedicated article (many of which we'll be expanding on in the near future). Check them out:

• How to set up, back up, restore, and update using iCloud
• How to set up and use iCloud mail, contacts, and calendars
• How to set up and use iTunes in the Cloud
• How to set up and use iTunes Match
• How to set up and use Photo Stream
• How to set up and use Documents in the Cloud
• How to set up and use Find my iPhone
• How to set up and use Find my Friends
• iCloud help and discussion forum

Reading list

• Unravelling Samsung's Galaxy S3 riddle: Alex Dobie of Android Central spends his time waiting for the Samsung event -- and Phil Nickinson's arrival in the Old World -- by going over what we can expect from the next great iPhone rival.
• Former RIM employee takes to reddit for some no holds barred Q&A: For those with morbid curiosity, CrackBerry reformatted a gobsmacking Reddit Q&A into much more legible form. (Or you can read the original on Reddit to get all the responses in a threaded view).
• My Dropbox Writing Workflow: Federico Viticci lays his text editing strategy bare. It's real, and it's spectacular.
• CinemaCon 2012: THE HOBBIT Underwhelms At 48 Frames Per Second and the rebuttal, Peter Jackson responds to complaints about 'The Hobbit' footage: I dislike 3D -- the human eye does not handle converging and focusing well on a fake, flat 3D plane, but I'm undecided on 48 fps. I'd like to try it out, I'm just not sure I'd like to risk trying it out on the Hobbit.

They've cut the hardline

Long week and they won't be getting shorter any time soon. Time to find another exit.

Dock is an iPhone app that acts as as screensaver of information when your iPhone is not in use. While your iPhone is docked at your desk, Dock will scroll through weather, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Clock and Stock widgets.

Dock is a very simple and easy to use app. You can either have Dock scroll through the information in one widget (like tweets from Twitter), or you can have Dock randomly scroll through information from all the widgets you've selected. If you are interested in something that scrolls by, tapping it will give you more options. For example, you can enlarge photos, reply to tweets, "like" Facebook photos and comment on them, and more.

In Settings, you can choose to have the information scroll by every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 seconds and mark which widgets you want active. You can also adjust the refresh rate of each widget, but unfortunately, the fastest refresh rate for Facebook and Twitter is 5 minutes. I'd like to see that reduced down to at least a minute.

My other little complaint is that Dock doesn't include a light colored theme. I have never been a fan of light-on-dark color schemes because it hurts my eyes and makes me squint (I have very sensitive eyes).

The Good

• A great way to use your iPhone when you're not really using it
• Information is displayed big and is easy to read
• Can post status to Facebook and tweets to Twitter

The Bad

• No light colored theme. Only white-on-black.
• Slow refresh rates

The Conclusion

Dock turns your iPhone into a fantastic little utility while it's docked. It runs great and displays information nice and big so that it's easy to read.

$1.99 - Download Now

The most popular photo sharing website is Facebook, yet uploading more than one photo at once is a repetitive process -- you must select each photo one at a time. PixUploader for iPhone does a much better job at streamlining the selection process and will even automatically select your most recent photos when you launch the app.

PixUploader is extremely easy to use. You can set up PixUploader to automatically add the most recent 1-8 photos in your Camera Roll when you launch the app. If you decide against uploading a selected image, you simply flick it away. To select more photos, just tap Add Photos.

Before starting the upload, you can select which Facebook album to upload the photos to, add cations, and tag your friends. If you tap on one of the thumbnails of the photos you've selected to upload, the image will open full size with a caption field to fill in. If you tap on the image, a list of your Facebook friends will slide up so that you can tag them in your photo. PixUploader will show a gray square on the area you can expect the tag to appear. Tapping this square will give you the option to delete the tag.

When your photos are ready to upload, just simply tap Upload and PixUploader will immediately start uploading them. They'll be uploaded one at a time at an acceptable rate. Eight photos will take more than a few seconds, however, but the good news is that PixUploader will continue uploading in the background if you want to switch over to another app.

The Good

• Easy to use
• Fast
• Upload up to 8 photos
• Add captions
• Tag friends
• Select which album to upload to
• Uploads in the background
• Choose to have PixUploader to automatically select your most recent 1-8 photos at launch
• Has two color schemes: blue and orange

The Bad

• Why limit to only 8 photos?

The Conclusion

PixUploader is a great way to share multiple photos to Facebook at once. The ability to add captions and tag friends makes it so you don't have to make any changes to Facebook after the photos have been uploaded. There have been many times that I only shared one photo to Facebook because it takes too long with the Facebook app. Now, I'll just use PixUploader.

There is also a free version of PixUploader that has a max limit of 4 images at a time and does not allow you to tag your friends and it's ad supported. The free version is a great way to test out PixUploader before you commit to buying it, though.

$0.99 - Download Now

Free - Download Now

While some people will no doubt be thrilled that Facebook has bought Instagram, and certainly many couldn't care less one way or t'other, there will be some folks who don't like, use, or trust Facebook when it comes to their personal photos. If you're one of them, and you're now looking for a way to export your photos out of Instagram and close your account, here's how to get it done.

How to export your photos from Instagram

One of the fastest ways to export your photos from Instagram, whether it's to leave the service or simply to create a backup, is with Instaport.me. A free web-based service, it will quickly and painlessly let you download a copy of all your Instagrams right to your Windows, Mac, or Linux PC.

1. On your PC, go to http://www.instaport.me
2. Click on Sign in with Instagram
3. Enter your Instagram username and password
4. Click on Yes to authorize instaport.me's access to your Instagram photos
5. Click on Start Export.
6. Wait.

Depending on how many Instagram photos you have, it could take a while to finish. When you're done, a zip file containing all your Instagrams will be safely stores in your default downloads folder.

How to delete your Instagram account

If for some reason merely backing up your Instagram photos isn't enough and you decide you want to kill it entirely, bury it upside down, and salt the earth before Facebook gets access to your content, here's how to close your account:

1. Browse to https://instagram.com/accounts/remove/request/
2. Choose a reason
3. Click Continue

Finish up your account removal and you're done, footloose and Facebook free.

Do you really want to delete your Instagram account just because they were bought by Facebook?

Make sure you carefully, cautiously consider if you really want to delete your Instagram account just because Facebook bought them. It's easy to get swept up in emotions when something you love is acquired by someone you don't trust or dislike, but it's worth taking a moment to think it over.

Once you've decided for sure, jump into our photography forum and tell us why you decided the way you did, and what other photo sharing service or services you might be considering switching to?

Via: @SteveStreza

Everyone's favorite social photo sharing network, Instagram, has just been purchased by Facebook for a reported $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram has put out the following statement:

When Mike and I started Instagram nearly two years ago, we set out to change and improve the way the world communicates and shares. We’ve had an amazing time watching Instagram grow into a vibrant community of people from all around the globe. Today, we couldn’t be happier to announce that Instagram has agreed to be acquired by Facebook.

Every day that passes, we see more experiences being shared through Instagram in ways that we never thought possible. It’s because of our dedicated and talented team that we’ve gotten this far, and with the support and cross-pollination of ideas and talent at a place like Facebook, we hope to create an even more exciting future for Instagram and Facebook alike.

It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience.

The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love. You’ll still have all the same people you follow and that follow you.You’ll still be able to share to other social networks. And you’ll still have all the other features that make the app so fun and unique.
We’re psyched to be joining Facebook and are excited to build a better Instagram for everyone.

Best, Kevin

CEO, Instagram

And Facebook has put out the following:

I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together.

Mark Zuckerberg

So. Damn. Yeah. All your photo filters has belong to Zuck.

How do you feel about this one, iMore Nation? Will it change the way you feel about, and use, Instagram? Are you looking forward to have Facebook's massive resources behind Instagram, or do you dread Facebook style privacy intrusions?

Also: Instabook or Facegram?

Jump into the iMore Forums and let your voice be heard!

More: How to export your photos from Instagram and close your account

Source: Instagram, Facebook

Back in the day it was all about the ICQ or AIM or BlackBerry PIN swap, but it's a bold new era of mobile and there are more ways then ever to keep connected and stay in touch. If you're new to iMore or if you've been here from the beginning, now's the time to clean out your community contacts and follow, friend, and plus up each other anew.

To find other great members of the iMore Nation to chat with, game with, and otherwise get social with, just visit one of these handy forum threads. Leave your contact info and grab everyone else's. Couldn't be easier!

To help get things going, here's mine, make sure to say hello!: iMore Forums, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Game Center: Rene Ritchie, Ping

• Add your Facebook page here!

• Add your Twitter name here!

• Add your Google+ account here!

• Add your iMessage handle here!

• Add your Game Center tag here!

• Add your Ping ID here!

All done? Cool. Game (or chat) on!

Facebook for iPhone and iPad had been updated and now allows users to go offline in chat. Before, you would have to go offline from the web if you wanted to be offline on you iPhone or iPad (seriously). Many of us have been asking for this improvement for quite some time, so it's great to see Facebook respond.

Facebook has also fixed several of the most annoying bugs that have been rampant in the app, and instead of the mysterious "bug fixes" that Facebook typically includes in their update notes, they've actually listed which bugs have been addressed in this update:

• The right profile picture appears for everyone
• Your list of friends always includes all your friends
• In sets of photos, your name is displayed correctly
• Photos of people who like Facebook Pages load correctly
• Your friend-request notification only lights up if you have a request

That's not April Fool's mind you. Those were genuine bugs. So all I can say is -- thank you, Facebook! The profile picture bug was the one that was driving me the most crazy, so I'm happy to see this fix. (Well, the time that my profile picture was Steve Wozniak for a the day was actually kind of cool). One of the most annoying Facebook bugs, however, is the one that doesn't initially display all the likes and comments on a photo when navigating to it from notifications, and it looks like that one wasn't addressed. Maybe next time.

For International users, Facebook has added language support for Czech, Danish, Greek, Indonesian, Malaysian, Norwegian (Bokmal), Portuguese (Portugal) and Thai.

Lastly, the iPad version of the Facebook app now supports the new iPad's Retina display.

How are you liking this update so far? Are you still experiencing any of the bugs that Facebook claimed to fix? Have you encountered any new bugs? Let us know in the comments below!

Free - Download Now

If you got a new iPad and immediately went to Facebook.com to play your favorite Facebook games, you may have notices they didn't work on the iPad browser. Don't panic! While Safari doesn't support the Flash plugin needed to play those games in the browser, there are several other ways to get your Facebook gaming fix on your new iPad.

Facebook games in the App Store

A lot of the popular games that you play on Facebook most likely have an App Store counterpart that you can download and run on your iPad. Many of them will even let you sign in with your Facebook account to log in and it'll bring down all your data, so you can keep playing with all your stuff, against all your friends, right where you left off.

I've actually found that I enjoy playing most Facebook games on my iPad rather than on the website. It's always been a better experience for me.

Here are some App Store equivalents of your favorite Facebook game:

Angry Birds - $0.99 - Download Now

Bejeweled Blitz - Free - Download Now

FarmVille - Free - Download Now

Fruit Ninja HD - $2.99 - Download Now

Words with Friends HD - $2.99 - Download Now

Diamond Dash - Free - Download Now

While these are nowhere near all the games available on Facebook, these tend to be some of the most popular ones. If you play another game on Facebook, odds are a quick search for it in the App Store should bring up an iPad version. Most of the games listed above also have a light or ad-supported free version as well if you'd like to try before you buy.

If it doesn't, there may still be a way to enjoy your favorite Facebook game from your iPad.

Facebook games with iSwifter

If you can't find your favorite Facebook game in the iPad App Store, you can try the iSwifter app. It lets you access a lot of popular social games that don't have App Store alternatives.

Free – Download now

Additional Resources:

• How to use Facebook on your new iPad
• Even more tips and tricks for new iPad users
• iMore Facebook and Social Networks forum
• iMore new iPad discussion forums

There are several popular social networks on the web and they all have iPhone apps, and many have iPad apps (or the iPhone app can be used in 2x mode on the iPad). Which ones do you use, and if you have both and iPhone or iPod touch and an iPad, do you use them all the same on both? Are there any you prefer using on on iPhone as opposed to iPad, or vice versa? Any you use on one you don't use at all on the other?

I use Twitter almost exclusively from my iPhone and almost never from my iPad (or Mac). It just feels like something I enjoy doing while on-the-go, and my iPhone is always close at hand. The iPad is more of a relaxed reading device for me, so I can see how some might prefer browsing through Facebook there as opposed to iPhone.

I don't use Google+ much (and when I go on, I mostly only see people from Android Central or Google posting -- is that just me? -- but they haven't even made an iPad app yet so you're stuck using the iPhone app in 2x mode if you want to be able to upload anything. Same goes for Path. It's beautiful looking but it's iPhone only still. Instagram is the same way, but at least the camera-centric nature of the app makes that a little more understandable. Still, I would be nice to be able to look at all the amazing Instragrams in an official Instagram app for iPad. Does it bother you if your favorite social network is iPhone only? Or are the iPhone apps in 2x mode fine for you?

I've said many times I'm not a big social network user in general. I don't feel like I'm missing out, I feel like I'm engaging where and when it's really important to me (and not just feeding an endless stream of personal information to a giant advertising company, but I won't get into that rant again here!). Anyone else avoiding social networks as much as possible?

Vote up top to let us know which social networks you use the most, and then tell us why in the comments below, or jump into our Social Network Forum to find all the other iMore members on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and more!

The new iPad is simply one of the most enjoyable ways to keep up with your Facebook friends, share your status and location, post pictures and videos, and more. It's instant-on, it has a big, beautiful screen, and the multitouch interface makes it a lot of fun for social networks where ever you are, whenever you're in the mood.

If you don't already have a Facebook account but want to join up and see what all the "friending" and "liking" fuss is about, sign up here:

• Facebook.com

To get all the latest news, reviews, and help from iMore right on Facebook, make sure to like us as well!

• iMore on Facebook

To find more iMore Facebook friends, check out our Facebook name thread:

• iMore Facebook names

Facebook for iPad

While you can always access Facebook.com directly through your iPad's Safari browser (see below), due to the way iOS works, there are certain things you just can't do over the web -- like upload pictures and video. In order to do those things, and to get a more native, iPad-like experience, there's the official Facebook for iPad app.

Download Facebook for iPad from the App Store (link below), sign in with your Facebook username and password, and you're all set. You'll receive push notifications and be able to update your status, add photos and videos (here's how, check-in to places, and view all your friend's profiles and activities as well.

While the Facebook for iPad app is extremely convenient, Facebook has an unfortunate reputation for buggy apps on iOS and all sorts of annoying issues remain unfixed. (Most recently, tagging photos or statuses). If you run into issue with the official Facebook for iPad app, you can check out some alternative suggestions below.

Free - Download Now

Alternative Facebook apps for iPad

While the Facebook app is free and is a decent solution, the interface may simply not be to your taste or you may be running into one or more of their infamous bugs. If that's the case, you can always try some of the alternative Facebook apps available in the App Store.

MyPad for iPad

MyPad has been around for quite a while and, before Facebook released their official iPad app, filled the gap quite nicely. It's also got Twitter integration and some other features that may make it more convenient for you than the official app.

Personally, I prefer the overall layout of the official Facebook for iPad app, but MyPad has been more stable and less buggy for me. They've got a free version available as well as a premium version with no ads.

Free - Download Now

$0.99 - Download Now

Friendly for iPad

Friendly for iPad is similar in terms of Facebook functionality to MyPad but the layouts are quite different. Friendly doesn't feature the same integration that MyPad does to other social networks such as Twitter, however, so if that's important to you, MyPad is probably the better choice. If it's not, choose whichever one looks more visually appealing to you.

Just like MyPad - Friendly has a free version as well as a paid version with no ads.

Free - Download Now

$0.99 - Download Now

How to access Facebook from Safari

While the Facebook for iPad app has more functionality than the mobile web version, your iPad can actually load the full blown Facebook.com website. I've actually relied on it several times when the actual application wasn't working well or kept timing out.

To access Facebook on the web from your iPad, just do the following -

1. Open Safari on your iPad
2. Go to facebook.com
3. Sign in to your account.

That's it. You'll be able to browse Facebook, comment on statuses, pictures, and more. The catch with using the web version of Facebook from your iPad is that you won't be able to play games, upload photo, video, and other content like you can from the actual application.

How to play Facebook games on the iPad

Neither the Facebook.com website nor any of the Facebook apps will let you play your favorite Facebook games on the iPad. Fortunately, a lot of Facebook games can be found right on the App Store and downloaded and enjoyed right on your iPad. In many cases, you can even log into them and keep them in sync with your Facebook account so you don't miss a friend or a turn.

Just head on over to the App Store and search for the name of your favorite Facebook game.

iSwifter

If you can't find your favorite Facebook game in the iPad App Store, you can try the iSwifter app. It lets you access a lot of popular social games that don't have App Store alternatives.

Free – Download now

Additional resources:

• Everything you need to know about your new iPad
• Even more tips and tricks for new iPad users
• iMore new iPad discussion forums
• iMore Facebook and Social Networks forum

What's your favorite way to use Facebook on your iPad?

The new iPad has a much improved camera -- so much improved you might even find it convenient to take quick, fun videos to share with family and friends on YouTube and Facebook.

Luckily, iOS and iPad apps make this really easy to do.

How to share an iPad video on YouTube

iOS for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch has YouTube integration built right in, which makes sharing videos you take on your new iPad easier than ever.

1. Tap on your Photos app and select the video you'd like to share.

1. In the upper right hand corner, click the arrow icon and tap Send to YouTube.

1. If you aren't already signed into YouTube, you'll be asked to sign in.

1. Next, fill in all the information about your video from the title to description, tags, and category. You can also choose whether you want to upload the standard definition or high definition version. Most will probably want to tap HD. It will take longer to upload though, so if you're in a hurry, standard definition will do.

How to share a video on Facebook

To share a video to Facebook you'll need to have the Facebook for iPad app installed first.

Free - Facebook for iPad

Once you've got the free Facebook app installed, you're ready to upload a video (or photo, the process is the same for both).

1. Launch the Facebook app from your iPad homescreen.
2. Sign in to your Facebook account if you haven't already done so.

1. Along the top under the main navigation bar you'll see an icon that says Photo. Tap on it.
2. You'll now have the option to either take a new video or select one from your library.
3. We will choose to select one from our library. You can, of course, choose to take one instead.

1. Navigate through your photos and videos to select the one you'd like to upload and select it.

1. You can now add a description to the photo and change a few settings before posting. You don't have to include the following information if you don't want to. If you don't want to change settings, just tap Post in the upper right hand corner.

1. If you'd like to tag someone in your photo, click the icon with a person on the left and start typing their name. When they pop up, just tap their name.

1. Tap the second icon to add a location to your photo. Tap the location to include it.

1. Tap the little gear in the right bottom corner to adjust what people or lists can view your media.

1. Once you're done setting everything the way you'd like, just tap Post and you're done!

How to edit your videos before uploading

If you want to edit, add titles or transitions, or otherwise make your videos even more fantastic before uploading, you can do that right on your iPad with either Apple's iMovie or Avid Studio.

• iMovie for iPad and iPhone review
• Avid Studio for iPad review

Now you know how to share videos to both Facebook and YouTube so you can get out there and start testing out the new camera in your brand new iPad.

Additional resources:

• All new iPad tips and how-tos
• New iPad help and discussion forums

If you've been enjoying the blissfully commercial-free experience of Facebook's iPhone and iPad apps, we're sad to inform you that Facebook will be integrating ads into their news feeds effective immediately. What's more, "premium" ads will be displayed on the desktop logout screen as well.

This comes after Facebook recently filed for IPO, and hot on the heels of rival social network, Twitter, announcing plans to integrate promoted tweets into their official iPhone app.

Up until now, Facebook has only pushed ads on the desktop and only below the ticker, on the side of user profiles. They no doubt hope mobile ads in the news feed will increase revenue and profitability. Like Google, they offer a free service to end users, but the price of that free service is advertising, data mining, and marketing. We're not the customers, we're the product. Facebook, like Google, hopes the service they offer is valuable enough that we'll put up with the advertising and keep sharing our data, so they can sell more ads to show us.

It's been an incredibly successful business model for Google, and could prove to be similarly successful for Facebook. However, ads in search may be more tolerable than ads in timelines. Search doesn't feel as personal as our social circles, and ads shown when we're looking for something might feel more helpful than ads shown when we're trying to share with our friends.

How do you feel about ads in your Facebook news feed?

Source: Facebook

Control, privacy, platform, and competition are just some of the reasons both iOS and OS X integrate Twitter but not Facebook.

With the upcoming release of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple will be fully integrating Twitter social sharing across all of their included apps, as well as extending a developer API for 3rd party apps available through the Mac App Store. This follows similar integration in iOS 5 last year and leaves one huge, lingering question: where's the Facebook integration?

Facebook has roughly 845 million users on their platform, and Facebook for iPhone has been one of the most popular apps on the App Store since launch. Both iOS and Facebook are massive platforms and the intersection of those to platforms is enormous.

That's not taking anything away from Twitter, which is also extremely popular and also shares a huge intersection between its user base and Apple's. They're just very different social networks, with different features, and iOS currently only has one and not the other.

So why would Apple choose to leave out Facebook and rely only on the less-enormous, less feature-filled Twitter for social integration in OS X 10.8 and iOS 5?

Control

The first reason that springs to mind is control. Apple likes to have as much control over their platform as they can in order to deliver the absolute best user-experience possible. Twitter doesn't take much issue with this, but Facebook is a different story.

Apple and Facebook once tried to work together on Apple's Ping social music service. According to the late Steve Jobs, Facebook wanted "onerous" terms in order to allow integration between Ping and Facebook's platform. Apple declined. Facebook pulled support. Finger pointing and harsh words followed.

(There are also some signs that Apple and Facebook flirted with integration in iOS 4 as well, but nothing became of it.)

Privacy

Apple has had some issues with privacy, including the collection of traffic data and recently apps that uploaded Contacts info without permission. However, they've also used privacy as a way to needles Google. Apple makes most of their money selling products, not selling advertising services, so they don't want to or need to collect a lot of user data. They've also been fairly unimpeachable when it's come to insisting other companies get users to opt-into sharing information up front, rather than force them to opt-out in some convoluted manner later. (Much to the consternation of advertisers and marketers, most recently in the magazine subscription area.)

Facebook on the other hand likes to collect huge amounts of data from its users, often with a collect first, apologize later mentality. Apple might take issue with Facebook wanting to harvest iOS user data, package it up, and market against it. Especially if all they, and users get in return is integration for status, photos, and location.

Platform

Facebook views their service as a platform. Just as OS X and iOS are unique and proprietary platforms meant to help Apple sell hardware, Facebook's platform is a proprietary service meant to help them collect data and sell ads. Apple wants to prioritize their iPhone and iPad devices, Facebook their social graph.

Those different and diverging priorities can easily be at odds and lead to conflict.

Competition

Lastly, Facebook has long been rumored to be working on their own smartphone. This could present the same problem for Apple that Google did when Android was released. In fact, it could be an even bigger problem if Facebook's integration is more broad than a maps or video app, or a mail account. Facebook integration isn't a bell that can be easily un-rung.

It would make sense for Facebook to make their own smartphone, however, the same way it made sense for Google.

Steve Jobs threatened to go Nuclear on Google when Android was released, to spend Apple's last dollar suing Google over their "stolen" technology. Would Apple set themselves up for that to happen again?

Twitter

Twitter doesn't seem to want as much control as Facebook. They're so far much more upfront about user privacy. While they're also a platform, it's one that seems -- at least for now -- more compatible with Apple's needs than is Facebook's. There's also no sign of a Twitter Phone on the horizon (or rather, almost every smartphone is already a Twitter Phone these days.)

Of course, it's always possible that Apple and Facebook may come to some sort of agreement down the road, ultimately paving the way for Facebook integration in iOS 6 and future versions of OS X. During Apple's recent shareholder meeting, CEO Tim Cook was asked about their relationship with Facebook and where exactly the popular social network would eventually come into the picture.

We do a lot with them, our users use Facebook an enormous amount. [...] I've always thought that the two companies could do more together.

Apple could stay away from Facebook just as they have always done, allowing Twitter to continue on its course of massive growth and user adoption. Or Apple and Facebook could patch up their differences, work out a deal, and give users more benefit with additional social sharing options..

Regardless, it would be nice to see the two work something out given how popular Facebook is and how often most of us use the social network on our iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.

It's not long before Facebook will require everyone to switch to the new timeline profiles and Cover Photo Maker for Facebook is here to help you design the perfect header for your timeline.

It comes equipped with 16 templates sized perfectly for a Facebook Cover photo. Each template is a collage of 1-5 photos with customization of border thickness and color. For even more personalization, Cover Photo Maker for Facebook has over 30 unique and stylized fonts for text. When your cover is ready, you can upload it directly to Facebook, email it, or save it to your camera roll.

Cover Photo Maker for Facebook is very easy to use and is a quick and easy way to create a unique cover for your Facebook timeline. However, it's not quite perfect. The biggest disappointment being that the resolution of the final image leaves a lot to be desired. I'm a photo snob, though, so the results may be more than satisfying for someone else.

It would also be nice if the app overlaid a box exactly where you'd expect your profile photo to be, so that can make sure none of the important elements of your cover photo will be hidden behind your profile picture.

If anyone picks this one up, we'd love to see your results in the iMore Photography Forum!

$1.99 - Download Now

Facebook has filed their IPO (initial public offering) registration and, in the process, revealed some rather astounding numbers related to users, revenues, and profit margins. Since Facebook is one of the most popular apps on iPhone and iPad, and a lot of those users are also iOS users, needless to say, they caught our attention.

Facebook saw $3.7 billion in revenues and around $1 billion in profits in 2011 -- a healthy 27 percent profit margin -- with significant growth each year. The jump in profits year-over-year sits at 65 percent, with revenues growing at a rate of 88 percent.

At last report, Facebook saw around 845 million active users with about half of them (483 million) checking the social network on a daily basis. In addition, Facebook processes roughly 2.7 billion 'Likes' and comments per day with users uploading an average of 250 million photos daily. Around 100 billion friendships were made in 2011.

Facebook also had more than 425 million monthly active users who logged into Facebook from a mobile device in December 2011. Although they weren't specific about mobile operating systems, the Facebook for iPhone app is historically known for being the #1 app in the App Store, with mobile adoption increasing significantly after a recent update improving performance and integrating Timeline support.

Although it's impossible to extrapolate the numbers based on Apple's recent quarterly earnings call, assuming roughly half of those were iOS users wouldn't be an unsafe bet.

That's huge. And it's also interesting given the persistent rumors that Facebook would be getting into the mobile space and going after those users. Google did it with Android. Amazon is doing it with Kindle Fire.

Given Facebook's tensions with Apple of late, which are rumored to have resulted in the planned integration of Facebook into iOS 4 to get scrapped (leaving things open for Twitter in iOS 5), and caused a public spat over the iOS social music network, Ping, Facebook could well be next, and now they'll have even more money and resources to put behind it.

Source: SEC

Facebook, the massive social network that counts one of the most popular iPhone apps of all time in their portfolio, is rumored to be readying a $5 billion IPO (initial public offering). Yes, Zuckerberg and co. might finally be ready to hit the stock market. The New York Times reports:

The Internet giant plans to list a preliminary fund-raising goal of about $5 billion, one of these people said. Another cautioned that any such number was largely a placeholder for determining filing fees, and that the final amount could differ significantly. And the company could still decide to delay its filing.

While huge, it narrowly misses out on being the biggest tech IPO ever -- that distinction belongs to Infineon. That is, of course, unless Facebook raises the stakes to $10 billion, then they'll own all the records. And the money.

Facebook has enjoyed enormous growth but not without growing pains, including and especially in regards to user privacy and transparency. Along with Google and Twitter -- the former public, the latter still private -- Facebook faces Federal privacy oversight for the foreseeable future.

Still, if Facebook does pull the trigger on this IPO, will that change anything? If any of us could buy stock and become a shareholder, does that make trusting our data to Facebook any easier, or any more difficult?

Source: New York Times

Iconic iPhone hacker George Hotz has quit Facebook and joined a new startup named Backplane. The folks over at BusinessInsider met up with Geohot recently and it looks like Backplane, funded by Lady Gaga and Google Ventures, is keeping him busy with hacking and coding.

Backplane empowers social community. We are a canvas for self-expression. We unite people around interests, affinities and movements. We are just getting started.

During a recent hackathon, Hotz was working on coding a program that would find all your friends on Facebook and put them on a map. Even though their project didn't win, it's good to see Hotz back to doing what he appears to be best at. Anyone besides me hoping he'll become involved in the iOS jailbreak community again?

Source: BusinessInsider

Google has officially launched its Orkut app for iPhone, letting users of Brazil and India's favorite social network access the service on-the-go.

The official Orkut app for iOS connects you to your friends and family. Now you can send scraps, see your friends updates, upload photos and browse your friends albums anywhere you go. Never miss a conversation again because you are not in front of your computer: get the free Orkut app and stay connected.

• Update your status
• Check your scraps and messages
• Reply to your friends birthdays
• Check your friends updates
• Browse your friends profiles, scraps and photos
• Take new photos and upload them directly to your Orkut albums
• Share your life anywhere, anytime with the people you care about

Although Orkut isn't as popular as Facebook in most parts of the world, the Google-owned social network that's not Google+ has gained popularity in Brazil and India, where roughly 80 percent of its active user base resides.

Orkut is available now in the App Store and is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.

• Free -- App Store Link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

The TomTom App for iPhone and iPad will be the first to use social networks as a source for turn-by-turn navigation. It can automatically plan routes based on information from Facebook events, places and friends. Drivers can also use the App to share their destination and arrival time on Twitter, Facebook, by email and SMS text.

Source: TomTom PR

Instagram has made a change that shares your photos to your Facebook albums instead of just sticking a link on your wall. Now when you select Facebook as an option when uploading a photo to Instagram, the image will be uploaded full-sized into a Facebook album named "Instagram Photos", along with your caption. As a result, your Instagram photos will appear nice and large on your timeline and it will be easy for your friends to browse past Instagram photos.

Previously, only the instagr.am link was shared to your wall and your friends needed to visit that link in order to view your photo. Additionally, you couldn't tag people in the photos and 'likes' and comments were technically made to the shared link, not the photo.

I was very excited when I noticed this change as I have been wanting Instagram to work like this for a very long time. I believe my Instagram photos will now receive more comments and 'likes' and I'm glad I'll be able to click through my friends' Instagram albums, since I know I miss many of their shared photos.

This change is only for photos uploaded to Instagram from now on. If you want to add previous photos to your Facebook album, you'll need to share it again from within the Instagram app.

Source: Instagram

What better New Year's resolution to start with than to check out all your in-app privacy settings, especially where Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are concerned? We know how it goes; you get a shiny new iPhone or iPad app and you just want to use it so you log in through Twitter of Facebook or Google because it's easy, quickly tap through all the set up pages, granting who knows what permissions and for how long, and then forget about it the moment the next shiny app comes along.

MyPermissions.org thinks you should take a few moments to review your settings, revoke or reduce access for those apps that no longer need full, free access to your personal, sometimes private data, and get 2012 off on a saner, more socially secure start.

(I just did mine and I was startled how many old apps still had access to my stuff.)

Source: MyPermission.org

Narrowing down the list of my most used apps is a huge undertaking! There are apps that I may use intensively for long periods of time, then not use so much at all. What I tried to do was identify the apps there were used on an almost daily basis, even if they were ones that I didn't use for a long period of time each day. This is perhaps best exemplified by my first choice...

My-Cast Weather Radar

There are a long of weather apps out there (in fact, working on reviews of a couple more!) but My-Cast seems to have the perfect mix of ease of use, simplicity, and providing enough information. It has an "iPhone-like feel" to it, in it's layout and presentation. It has intuitive controls to change between (for example) short of verbose forecast. With My-Cast weather, I find I can get a quick, easy to understand forecast, description of severe weather events, and even radar and map displays. I have other apps that I use for more detailed information when needed, but My-Cast is the app that I check on a daily basis to find out what it going on weather wise.

• $3.99 for iPhone - App Store link

Air Sharing

I use a lot of different online storage systems and email accounts. Air Sharing lets me manage them all together. I can see what it in dropbox, and then move it to Box.net. I can check an attachment I have on my exchange email account, and open it up and read it. The versatility of the app is its strongest feature. No, I can edit documents, but I can print them with air print or email them from withing the app. Air Sharing is a great far-reaching document and storage management tool. (This was almost going to be Goodreader, but that requires a separate app for both the iPad and the iPhone, while Air Sharing is a universal binary).

• $2.99 for iPhone - App Store link
• $3.99 for iPad - App Store link
• $4.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

Hanging with Friends

I wanted to choose a game to put in here. I mostly play casual games (think Angry Birds, Where's my Water, Tower Defense, Temple Run, Doodle God, Fruit Ninja, etc), many of which I may get into a "groove" and play for days on end. I ended up choosing Hanging with Friend, by the makers of Words with Friends. Hanging with Friends is a Hangman style game that you play...well...with friends! While I also play Words with Friends, I have found that Hanging with Friends is probably the casual game I check on a regular basis - seeing if my opponent guessed my word, or trying to guess a word myself. While I enjoy Words with Friends, I find that Hanging with Friends is a little more low key - I don't spend as much time trying to figure out the perfect word to play. It's a great and fun way to play a word game that might be a little less stressful (for me at least!)

• $1.99 for iPhone - App Store link

MLB.com At Bat 11

I have both the iPhone and the iPad version on the app, and during the baseball season I was using these on a daily basis. As a huge baseball fan, I loved the local radio broadcast feature, and following the game live with Gameday was almost as good as watching it on TV. Even in the off season, I have found that the app gets checked on a regular basis - for news, transaction updates, and anything that might be going on during the Hot Stove season. Unfortunately you have to purchase the app each season, AND they don't make a universal binary, but for any baseball fan it is a must have. And the good news is that each year it has been released, it has had new and improved features, so I hope to see even more improvements in 2012!

• $0.99 for iPhone - App Store link
• $0.99 for iPad - App Store link

Facebook

Yes, I use Twitter (and Tweetbot is my go-to app). Yes, I use Google+, and use the app for that. But Facebook is the "social network" that I probably check, and make updates too, most frequently. As such, the Facebook app for the iPhone is the app that gets the most use. And now with the Facebook app for the iPad available, I will probably start using that one as well. This may change in 2012, I may start using Twitter or Google+ more, but for now, for me, Facebook is still the king (although I do sometime use Quick Status to update both my Twitter and Facebook accounts at the same time!).

• Free for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

9to5 Mac has word that Facebook for iPad will be getting the new Timeline feature in late January.

Timeline was supposed to come to the iPad in December, but the release has been pushed back due to last minute bugs found during advanced testing. Facebook is now planning to launch the update between mid-January and late January.

Facebook recently updated their iPhone app to include the new Timeline profile layout, but the iPad app was noticeably lacking in that respect.

The Timeline feature is said to work very well on the iPad's larger, multi-touch screen, and will be a "fusion of the web and iPhone/iPod touch version". I'm personally looking forward to this, and it couldn't come any quicker.

Source: 9to5Mac

Facebook has updated their iPhone app to version 4.1, bringing Timeline to the mobile app as well as access to friends lists and subscriptions. Here's the full update log:

• Access to Mobile Timeline on iPhone (if you already have Timeline). iPad support coming soon.
• Access to friend lists, subscribers and subscriptions.
• Faster, better performance.
• Photos are easier to view, upload and comment on.

We're hoping these performance updates actually do what they suggest. I've run into so much frustration lately when using the Facebook for iPhone app that's it's essentially become unusable in some scenarios. Instead, I've opted to just use the mobile version in Safari.

You can grab the update now from the App Store or via iTunes app updates.

• Free - App Store Link

Facebook have begun to roll out their new profile design: Timeline, to iPhone through the mobile optimized version of their website. The redesign features most of the important features of Timeline.

• Viewing and changing Cover Images.
• Scrolling back through time - from birth to the present day

Other features are missing, like the ability to add 'life events', or change the date of photos to have them listed accurately in your timeline, but overall the interface is really nice.

The new timeline interface is only viewable on profiles that have enabled them on the normal website. Timeline hasn't rolled out on the iPad, or the native app, but no doubt it will be soon.

Source: m.facebook.com

According to iPhoneiTalia, Facebook is working on an update to its Messenger app that will deliver Facebook video calls across multiple platforms. Facebook currently offers a video calling service between users on desktop web browsers using its agreement with Skype. According to sources, the update to the Facebook messenger app is already being tested in the wild and should be revealed in the not too distant future.

This update appears to be a natural progression for the Facebook Messenger app. The idea of being able to video chat with another Facebook user on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch would be extremely appealing to many. The app should be compatible with any iOS device with a front facing camera. We will let you know as soon as we hear any more information!

Source: iPhoneItalia via Cult of Mac

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Georgia, Rene, Seth, and Engadget's Richard Lai talk iPad 3 on LTE, iOS code names, Facebook buying Gowalla, Infinity Blade II, Apple vs Samsung and Motorola, and Office for iPad. This is iPad Live!

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Facebook has released an update for their iPhone and iPad app that fixes the bug that caused the wrong comments to show on some photos.

Fixes an issue that caused incorrect comments to be displayed for certain photos

This was by far the most annoying Facebook bug and it pleases me to see it fixed. Surprisingly, the fix seems to have worked, too! Is it working for you? What bug would you like to see fixed next?

Facebook is available on the iPhone and iPad for free.

[App Store link]

Did you or someone you know just get a brand new iPhone or iPod touch, and are wondering which are the top 10 very best, most must-have apps and games you absolutely need to jump into the App Store and download now, now, now? Well, you're in luck -- whether you want to show off the beautiful Retina display, test the power of the dual-core Apple A5 processor, need to get things done, or just want to have some fun, TiPb's top 10 have got your back! As part of our ongoing iPhone new users guide, here are our top 10 favorite, most highly recommended iPhone apps to get you started!

Note: App prices are current as of the time of this writing but can and do change frequently over time, including going up, down, and going on sale. Some free apps also sell additional content via in-app-purchase, or require a subscription. Always read app descriptions thoroughly before purchasing or downloading.

Social apps: Facebook for iPhone

Facebook is one of the most popular sites on the web, and not surprisingly, it's also one of the most popular apps on iPhone. While Facebook for iPhone has a well earned reputation for general bugginess, it's also been steadily improving as of late. Sure, you can visit Facebook.com on Safari, but the app gives you much, much more functionality, not the least of which is photo uploads. You also get Places, Messages, Chat, and many of your other favorite Facebook features.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• Facebook Messenger is for those who want a fast, focused way to stay in instant touch with friends. Free - App Store link
• LinkedIn for iPhone has a brand new, way more distinctive interface for all your business networking. Free - App Store link
• Tweetbot is a great, highly stylized alternative to the official Twitter client. $2.99 - App Store link
• Find my Friends is Apple's answer to keeping track of who's where, either all the time or just for special events. Free - App Store link

Casual games: Angry Birds

Angry Birds is like the Mario or Sonic of iPhone and iPod touch gaming -- so synonymous with iOS that even though it's not made by Apple, even though it's on other platforms now, it's still the most famous, and still one of the most fun games ever to grace the App Store. While the idea of slingshotting variously powered birds at the variously fashioned fortifications and popping variously evil green pigs might seem thin at first, excellent gameplay and a constant stream of updates keep it fresh -- and continuously at or near the top of the charts. Give it a fling... and prepare to lose many an hour chasing those elusive three star ratings.

• $0.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• Cut the Rope is just as simple, just as enjoyable, and just as addictive. $0.99 - App Store link
• Plants vs. Zombies is a charming, horrifically funny take on tower defense. $2.99 - App Store link
• Tiny Wings shows that birds don't have to be angry to be fun; they don't even need to fly... much. $0.99 - App Store link
• Seigecraft is a beautifully done tower defense style game... with trebuchets! $2.99 - App Store link

Communications/IM apps: Skype

The iPhone is a phone, so it makes voice calls, it has FaceTime so it makes video calls, and it has iMessage, so it can do IM. What place is there, then, for Skype for iPhone? Turns out, a lot. FaceTime and iMessage are Apple-only technologies, so they don't play nicely with other devices and platforms, and phone calls -- especially international phone calls cost a lot of money. Microsoft's Skype runs on almost every device and operating system, is free to call other Skype users, and cheap to call phones.

• Free - App Store link link

Also check out:

• BeeJiveIM supports AIM/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace and Jabber for flexible, full featured chat. $9.99 - iTunes link
• Google Voice for iPhone lets you access your GV calls, texts, and voice mail. Free - iTunes link
• WhatsApp is probably the closest thing to a cross-platform BBM (BlackBerry Messenger)-style instant messenger available. $0.99 - App Store link
• Verbs doesn't support as many protocols but for GTalk, Facebook, AIM, and Me.com, nothing looks nicer. $0.99 + in-app purchase - App Store link

Productivity apps: Numbers, Pages, and Keynote

Apple's iWork suite, which consists of Keynote for presentations, Numbers for spreadsheets, and Pages for word processing has recently been updated to work with iCloud, so all your documents get stored and synced between your devices (including, eventually, iWork for Mac when Apple updates it). Keynote was built for Steve Jobs so it's absolutely best in class, while Numbers and Pages are easy to use and produce great looking docs.

• $9.99 - Keynote in App Store link
• $9.99 - Numbers in App Store link
• $9.99 - Pages in App Store link

Also check out:

• Good Reader is a powerhouse for PDF annotating and file management. [$2.99 - App Store link]
• Evernote stores text, images, and audio for easy reference later. [Free - App Store link]
• Elements is a text editor that syncs with Dropbox and has Markdown support. 'Nuff said. $4.99 - App Store link
• Todo takes task management to the next level, with sync to Dropbox or iCloud among others. $4.99 - App Store link

Action/arcade games: Infinity Blade II

Epic's Unreal 3 engine exploded onto iPhone with Infinity Blade, an on-rails sword fighting extravaganza with some of the best visuals we've ever seen. Infinity Blade II takes all of that to a whole new level. You literally will not believe a game that looks this good is running on your phone.

Infinity Blade II picks up where the first left off, with you locked in a battle with the Deathless, only this time the stakes are higher, the enemies badder, and the weapons more powerful than ever. It's still a tad repetitive at times, but it quickly becomes as addictive as it is gorgeous, and ChAIR typically has regular updates so there's always new gear, new enemies, and new aspects to enjoy.

• $6.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• Real Racing 2 for amazing cars, online action, and AirPlay. $9.99 - App Store link
• Street Fighter IV Volt puts the classic fighter in the palm of your hands. $0.99 - App Store link
• Extraction: Project Outbreak is a fresh take on the top-down 3D shooter. $0.99 - App Store Link
• Atari's Greatest Hits brings the oldest of old school to your brand new advice. Free - App Store link

Music apps: Rdio

While Pandora, Slacker, and Spotify get a lot of attention, Rdio's focus on social networking means it really excels at music discovery -- you get to see what the people you're following are listening to. You can cache music for offline listening, so you can load up on Wi-Fi and save your data, and the available selection of music is great for mainstream and alternative music lovers alike. Give it a try with the free 7-day trial.

Also check out:

• GarageBand is Apple's iLife music making app brought to iPhone. $4.99 - App Store link
• DJay will make you the mixing star of your next party. $0.99 - App Store link
• MadPad lets you remix and make music out of all the sounds around you. $0.99 - App Store link
• Shows lets you know when and where your favorite artists are in concert. $2.99 - App Store link

Photo apps: Instagram

Instagram is the current king of iPhone photography apps, and it took the crown through a brilliant combination of easy-to-apply filters and super simple social sharing. The latest version not only adds even more filters, but all tilt-shift effects. Whether you want to quickly share great looking snap shots to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, or Posterous, Instagram has you covered. In style.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• Photogene2 is a photography powerhouse, with full featured editing, sharing, and much more. $1.99 - App Store link
• Camera+ is jam packed with features and filters to make your photos shine. $0.99 - App Store link
• Hipstamatic to bring that terrific toy camera look to your shots. [$0.99 - App Store link
• Flickr for iPhone lets you store and share all the shots you take. [Free - App Store link

Video apps: Air Video

Air Video automagically transcodes on the the fly and streams your videos -- almost any videos, in almost any format -- from your Windows or Mac PC to your iPhone. If you have an Apple TV, you can also beam them straight to your big screen television as well. If you've got a ton of content on your computer and you want to watch it on your iPhone, this is the app for you.

• $2.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• iMovie is Apple's iLife video editor, gloriously brought to iPhone. $4.99 - App Store link
• Netflix gives you access to tons of streaming catalog titles, right on your iPhone. Free - App Store link
• IMDb includes all the movie and TV details and showtimes in handy app form. Free - App Store link
• Slingplayer Mobile works with your Slingbox to put anything from your TV on your iPhone. $29.99 - App Store link

Internet apps: Dropbox

Dropbox is an amazing cloud sync solution not just for iPhone but for iPad, Mac, Windows, Linux, and basically everything you can imagine (several of us store almost our entire home directories in Dropbox). Not only does it give you access to any and all files in your Dropbox folder -- along with easy links for sharing and the ability to store favorites locally -- but many, many other apps use Dropbox to handle their sync as well, from password apps to writing apps to note taking apps. You get 2GB for free and can buy more if you need it. It's different than Apple's iCloud, but it's just as awesome.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• 1Password lets you have security and convenience with all your logins, credit cards, and accounts available on your iPhone. $14.99 - App Store link
• Skyfire is a web browser that lets you watch some Flash videos on your iPhone. $2.99 - App Store link
• Screens is a VNC client that lets you remote desktop to your Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. $19.99 - App Store link
• Articles wraps up Wikipedia into a great looking, easy to use app. $2.99 - App Store link

Location/GPS apps: NAVIGON

Get full fledged turn-by-turn driving directions on your iPhone so you can keep your eyes where they belong -- on the road. NAVIGON provides on-board maps which means it keeps working in areas where there's no data coverage. You can buy regional, country, or continents at a time, and there are also options for live traffic updates, parking directions, and enhanced panoramic views of the surroundings.

• Varies - App Store link

Also check out:

• Foursquare lets you "check in" to locations, keep track of your and your friends' locations, and earn points for being there. Free - App Store link
• Yelp provides restaurant, gas station, bar, and pretty much any type of business location and recommendations. Free - App Store link
• Find my iPhone is Apple's way for iCloud to help you locate, lock, and even wipe a missing or stolen iPhone. Free - App Store link
• Waze is a free, crowd-sourced, and highly social travel and nav app. Free - App Store link

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

I re-installed my iPhone the other day, re-downloaded Netflix, entered my username and password... and was promptly kicked out of the app and into Safari, and asked to login to Facebook. Something similar happened on my iPad, but because I was already logged into Facebook I was instead kicked out into Safari and asked to add some ridiculous Netflix app to Facebook.

I can't emphasize enough how horrible a user experience this is. A first time user experience should be as darn near frictionless as possible. It should be about the app and service, helping you to use it successfully and immediately. Kicking your new users out of your app is inexcusable. Kicking them into Facebook is even worse. Despite its popularity, not everyone uses it. Some people are highly opposed to using it for various privacy reasons.

For someone like my mom, that would be a brick wall and phone call to me -- something she's never had to do on the iPad so far.

From the bungled price hike to the embarrassing Qwikster flip-flop to the perplexing release of a revamped Android tablet app before the much, much, much (much) better selling iPad, Netflix should be far more concerned about providing a great experience to the users that have stuck with them than about pushing their self-service social initiatives. Instead, this looks like just one more misstep.

What the heck is wrong with them?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Facebook might just be close to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that would fundamentally change the way they treat their users, and their users' personal information.

According to people familiar with the talks, the settlement would require Facebook to obtain users' consent before making "material retroactive changes" to its privacy policies. That means that Facebook must get consent to share data in a way that is different from how the user originally agreed the data could be used.

Facebook, which makes one of the most popular apps for iPhone and iPad, has been charged with misleading users about how private information was being handled -- making it public by default. Under this settlement, Facebook would switch from opt-out to opt-in, letting users decide what they want to share before sharing it, and be subject to audits for 20 years to ensure compliance (much as Google has recently agreed to, and Twitter to a lesser period).

Source: Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg has offered some details on the advice Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought from Steve Jobs on how best to build the social network.

“I had a lot of questions for him,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with Charlie Rose that’s due to air today. The topics included, “how to build a team around you that’s focused on building as high quality and good things as you are.” [...] Jobs and Zuckerberg also talked about “the aesthetics and kind of mission orientation of companies,”

Apple is well known for focusing on tight product lines in order to create a clear path for consumers. Facebook has been narrowing their focus on products and design in similar ways with features like Chat and the new Timeline. Still, it's interesting that Jobs offered advice and Zuckerberg sought it after the obvious differences the two companies have had in recent year.

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook Messenger for iPhone has been updated and brings the ability to see when the other person is typing, shows if a person is online or mobile, and has the people you message most quickly accessible.

Despite Facebook's claim of bringing the ability to see when the other person is typing, I haven't seen any such indication. How about you?

Facebook Messenger is a faster way to send mobile messages to friends. With Messenger, you can send and receive messages with any of your friends around the world or anyone in your mobile contacts list. Messenger is available on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.

Here's the update details:

• Ability to see who's online and who's mobile
• Ability to see when the other person is typing
• A faster way to compose new messages to the people you message most
• Various performance improvements
• Support for 12 additional languages
• Support for iOS 5

Facebook Messenger is available on the iPhone for free.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

iOS 5 – @chrisoldroyd

Well a bit of a predictable "Pick of the week" this week for me, I am going for the iOS 5 update. It delivers so much in one update I really don't know where to start. Oh yeah, I do, read this amazing walkthrough that Rene has put together. It covers every last detail of iOS 5.

My favorite parts are iMessage, Notification Center and Wi-Fi iTunes syncing. Also iOS 5 appears to have given my iPad 2 a huge speed boost, it feel so much more responsive now. If you haven't upgraded to iOS 5 yet, go and do it now! It is the biggest iOS update ever! You are going to love it!

Gif Me! - @Alli_Flowers

This one is just flat out cool. Remember those animated gifs people used to share by email? Well now you can make your own. It's like stop motion photography made simple. Open the app, frame your subject, tap, repeat. Got everything lined up for the perfect gif? Click next and Gif Me! puts them all together.

I started drawing stick men on a napkin, and worked my way up to stuffed animals. Eventually I'll be brave enough to do something clever with action figures...not that I collect action figures or anything . It's also great just for sending hand written messages.

Oh the fun you'll have!

[Free - App Store link]

Cut the Rope: Experiments - @iMuggle

I've always been a huge fan of Cut the Rope. Every time I saw an update that added a new batch of levels I would immediately want to sit down and work my way through them. I'm a little late when it comes to picking up Cut the Rope this time but better late than never!

The newest iteration of Cut the Rope adds even more fun to the original. The Professor is very intrigued my Om Nom and has added all kinds of new inventions to the game. You can also find hidden photos throughout the game this time featuring Om Nom and the Professor.

There are currently 3 packs of levels with more coming soon. So if you haven't picked it up already, make sure you check it out!

[$0.99 - App Store Link]

Rdio - @Bla1ze

Being a fan of all sorts of music, finding the best app to cater to my tastes was no easy task. There are a lot of music apps in the app store and Rdio I feel is one that is often overshadowed by bigger names like Slacker, Spotify and Pandora.

That said; I love it because it allows for a wide array of music discovery through people you follow plus, you can cache filled for offline thus no longer needing to waste precious bandwidth. The available selection of music is great for mainstream and non mainstream music lovers alike and the app itself is nicely laid out. Give it a try with the free 7-day trial.

[Free - App Store link]

iQuickTweet - @JorjLim

One of the new features in iOS5 is the ability to share photos, maps, videos and links completely integrated into iOS. However, there is no native way to simply tweet, without an attachment.

Enter iQuickTweet. It opens up the same ‘tweet’ UI as the attachment sharing feature, just without the attachment. It also integrates with the same twitter settings, so there is no need to add your details again.

Once you send a tweet, just tap on the bird to send another. Its a very simple app, but extremely useful if you just want to send a quick tweet, without having to load up a full twitter app.

[$0.99 - App Store link]

The Amazing Typewriter - @reneritchie

I'm at the Çingleton conference right now so apologies for the brevity. John Gruber from Daring Fireball was just showing this off and I took an immediate like to the finely rendered, varied type.

[$1.99 - App Store link]

Facebook for iPad - @llofte

Facebook has finally released an iPad app and it surprising work pretty well. It is so nice to browse Facebook with all the unnecessary and distracting things stripped away. And of course, now that Facebook is on the iPad, it is finally possible to upload pictures. Thank you Facebook - it only took nearly a year and half.

[Free - App Store link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on twitter or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Facebook Photo Importer is an app that lets you import your photos from Picasa (Google+), Instagram, Flickr, and Photobucket to Facebook. It's fast, easy, and doesn't use up your data because you're not uploading the photos from your device.

Facebook Photo Importer lets you import 100 photos in less than a minute, straight to your Facebook profile from Picasa (Google+), Instagram, Flickr and Photobucket.

• Access your Picasa, Flickr, Instagram and Photobucket photo albums.
• Copy 100 photos in less than a minute.
• Imports your photo’s Metadata – Titles, Descriptions.
• Built on Cloud to Cloud technology: Easily import dozens of photos in seconds.
• Does not affect bandwidth or data usage “Cloud based transfers”.
• Select multiple or all photos in your albums – transfer with a single tap.
• Save a lot of time and hassle.

Facebook Photo Importer is available on the iPhone for $1.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

The waiting is over, folks, as Facebook has let us know that Facebook for iPad is set to hit the App Store today! It appears as though it will be available as an update to the Facebook for iPhone app.

In addition to an interface designed for the iPad, some of the app's great advantages over the web is that you can chat and play Facebook games.

I complained nearly a year ago about Facebook not having an iPad app, and it's great to see them finally release one. I sure as heck can't wait to get my hands on it!

• Enjoy bigger, better photos - Your photos take on new life on the iPad. They're big, high-res and easy to flip through—like a real photo album.
• Focus on what matters - With less on the screen, it's easier to zoom in on your friends' photos, updates and stories.
• Navigate anywhere, fast - Just tap, slide or pinch to get from one screen to another and back again in no time.
• Never lose your place - Use simplified navigation to send a message, see your notifications or browse your bookmarks without switching screens.
• Play games on the go - Play your favorite Facebook games wherever you are, and on a bigger screen.
• Tap to send messages - A simple dropdown menu makes it easy to scan and send messages without visiting your inbox.

UPDATE: It's out! Go get it!

Source: Facebook

Facebook has reportedly had their iPad app ready to go for some time and may have been planning its announcement around Apple's Lets Talk iPhone event this past Tuesday. Same goes for their iOS web platform Project Spartan. Robert Scoble suggested last night that Steve Jobs passing may have had something to do with Facebook's non-announcement.

Today a guy I know at Facebook told me that Apple just "went dark" this weekend and stopped answering emails and phone calls (they had amazing new iPhone and iPad apps and a new developer platform all ready for announcing). Folks inside Facebook thought they had done something massively wrong. No, they hadn't. Truth is you had something deeper to deal with.

If that's the case, and Facebook really does have a new Facebook for iPhone, Facebook for iPad, and web platform for iOS ready to go, could we still see it soon?

Source: Robert Scoble

To make a long story short, it sounds like iOS 4 was supposed to include the type of Facebook integration that iOS 5 will enjoy with Twitter but Apple and Facebook couldn't get the deal done. Subsequent squabbles over Ping, and a tempestuous visit by Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg -- including a blow up over HP and their TouchPad -- only fanned the flames of discontent. According to Jennifer Van Grove at Mashable:

When Jobs learned of the webOS Facebook app during his summer visit to Facebook, he was livid. Zuckerberg vowed to get the app pulled. But Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and then the GM of HP’s webOS division, refused to halt the release of the app. Facebook responded by restricting HP’s access to its APIs — just as it had done with Apple’s Ping, a year earlier.

Apple wanted Facebook on iPad first, HP wanted Facebook on TouchPad first, and Facebook played both sides to the apparent benefit of... nobody. Well done.

For the whole, long, sordid version of the tale, hit the source link below. Meanwhile let's hope Apple and Facebook really have unburned their bridges and we get Facebook for iPad on or around this Tuesday as rumored.

Source: Mashable

According to Mashable, Facebook will finally launch the official Facebook for iPad app next to an update to its iPhone counterpart at Apple's iPhone 5 event next week. Former Facebook developer Jeff Verkoeyen recently spoke out against Facebook yesterday for dragging their feet on releasing the long rumored iPad app. Apparently "a combination of timing and a strained relationship with Apple" was at the heart of the issue, but the two have finally come to an agreement. Why?

thanks to the shared goal of beating Google — and the simple fact that Facebook and Apple may need each other. The former doesn’t have a mobile platform while Apple doesn’t have a social platform. The culmination of this renewed friendship: the launch of Facebook for iPad at Apple’s iPhone 5 media event.

To be honest, at this point I'm not holding my breath and will believe it when I see it in the App Store. In the meantime, check out our Top 5 Facebook for iPad apps to help you with the wait.

Source: Mashable

Jeff Verkoeyen, an ex-Facebook developer who was the lead engineer on the Facebook for iPad project, wrote on his personal blog about the internal battle that took place between him and Facebook, and goes a long way to explaining why we still haven't seen the app.

It is now nearly 5 months since the app was feature complete and I haven’t seen it released except for when the project was leaked on Techcrunch. Needless to say this was a frustrating experience for me. The experience of working on this app was a large contribution to the reasons why I left Facebook, though that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a difficult decision.

MG Siegler at TechCrunch suspects the delay may be tied to negotiation issues between Apple and Facebook, even though Apple would do well in having an official Facebook for iPad app in the App Store. As you may recall, they were in talks for upwards of 18 months on the Ping deal that ultimately fell through at the last minute because Facebook demanded too much in terms of user information.

But Apple has always wanted Facebook to release an iPad app. The Facebook iPhone app is the most downloaded app of all time. And there are countless third-party Facebook iPad apps that are amongst the top downloads all time, even though most aren’t very good. At first, Facebook wasn’t going to focus on the iPad. Then they decided to, but they also realized the app could be used as leverage in their dealings with Apple. That’s what we believe has been going on over the past several months.

It's also possible that the delayed iPad app has something to do with Facebook's Project Spartan, an app store that will offer games and news apps that run inside Safari, or as Web Clips on the home screen. Facebook and Apple could be working together on the HTML5 project, prompting continuous delays for the iPad app as deals are hammered out.

Robert Scoble also chimed in last week (on Google+ of all places) noting that Facebook may be holding off until Apple's iPhone 5 announcement on October 4th.

By the way, I heard a rumor from a usually credible source that Facebook may not announce an iPad app tomorrow, but will save it for October 4th instead. Now THAT will be very interesting news, since I know Apple really hates Facebook.

Either way, our patience is wearing thin... In the meantime, check out our Top 5 Facebook Apps for iPad to hold you over until the official app is released.

Source: Jeff Verkoeyen via TechCrunch, Robert Scoble

During Facebook's annual f8 conference today CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed an all-new, completely redesigned profile including the "Timeline" to better describe who you are and what you're interested in. Facebook will also introduce better app integration across the platform and we'll be seeing changes to the "Like" button as well.

So what are these changes all about and how soon can we expect to see them hit the iPhone app?

Timeline

Currently, each profile contains status updates and user activity in a static timeline with an "endless scroll" effect, requiring users who view your profile to scroll down continuously to see what you've been up to recently and in the past. This process can be time consuming if you're looking for an older post or want to show friends interesting events from your past.

The profile changes include a new "Timeline" feature going back through your entire history on Facebook, even reaching back in time to before Facebook existed by letting you add information from the day you were born. Users can fill their backstory from before Facebook was created so friends can see when you've moved in the past, ended a relationship or got your first car from way back in the day.

Facebook describes the new Timeline as "The story of your life".

• All your stories
• All your apps
• A new way to express who you are

Timeline essentially makes it easier for users to focus in on a specific window of time to get a good snapshot of your activity during that period in your life. Users will have more fluid control over their profiles and the ability to customize their own Timelines to reflect their personalities and lifestyles. You can determine how prominent or subtle any past story is displayed on your Timeline by adding a star to it, formatting the post in widescreen for more prominence within your profile.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the Timeline feature as I like to have full control and ownership over my profile and what my friends can see. It will be up to Facebook to make sure there's enough customization available to users before I can pass judgement, but Timeline is definitely one of the biggest changes Facebook has made since it launched and was one of the focus areas in today's f8 announcement.

Apps will play a larger role

Facebook apps in general will be getting Timeline integration too, letting users drop apps directly into their Timeline for display on the main profile. Apps will also be more socially integrated and hold a larger presence throughout Facebook, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how developers use the new app resources.

App "Reports" will also let you dive into the Timeline of any app so you can see the different ways you've been using apps at any point in the past. Want to see how many crops you harvested last summer, or how many Vampires you've slain this month? I think you get the point...

It will be interesting to see how the Facebook platform grows with the added benefits to app developers and the overall larger role that apps will play going forward. I could see this as more of a distraction than an added benefit, but you may think otherwise depending on the different ways you use Facebook.

"Like" is now a verb

Facebook's well-known "Like" button that we've all grown to love (or hate) will also be getting an upgrade, where instead of just "liking" a book or a movie you can now say you've "read" a book or "watched" a movie.

The Like button will be evolving over time and adding additional verbs to open up a wide-range of possibilities. Facebook apps will also be able to tap into this new "Like as a Verb" functionality to help users better express their interests.

Open Graph

Facebook has partnered up with the likes of Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio to integrate music directly into your profile page through Open Graph. Anything you Like or add to your profile can be played when your friends visit your page or check out your interests right from within the profile, fully integrated, and it's completely free. Spotify currently touts 15 million tracks available, which Facebook users will have full access to just by Liking a song.

They've also teamed up with Netflix, Hulu, Blockbuster (wha?!) and a number of other video content providers to fill your profile with your favorite shows and videos. Netflix will not be available to Facebook users in the US initially, giving all the goods to Canada and Latin America until a certain US law that "creates some confusion over our ability to allow U.S. members to share what they watch" is sorted out.

So what about the iPhone app?

That's a quick rundown of some of the bigger changes announced today with most of the updates being rolled out over the next couple of months. But where does the iPhone come in?

The added functionality to the "Like" button relies on HTML5 technology, so a simple backend update to the Facebook for iPhone app could easily include the new features across the service from within the app. Same goes for the Timeline, which could be displayed in a similar layout to the desktop thanks to the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 -- at least in landscape orientation.

Open Graph is a different story, where complications like contracts and complex agreements come into place from music and content owners preventing users from fully enjoying what they love. There also may be technical limitations that prevent playback features from crossing over to the native iPhone app, especially with video from partners who don't have their content setup in the right format.

We'll have to wait and see exactly which changes ultimately make it to the Facebook for iPhone app, since recent changes like Top Stories have already been pushed while other features like the new activity ticker are still (and thankfully so) tied to the desktop browser.

There's just one thing I'm still left wondering about after today's f8 announcement -- when the heck is Facebook going to release that long-rumored iPad app?!

[Facebook]

Let's be blunt -- if you're not in the TiPb Forums you're missing out on the best darn discussion in iPhone and iPad today, so head on over and register now!

• iOS 5 beta 8 to be released this Friday?

• If you'd like to connect with some TiPb forum members on Twitter, Google+, and/or Facebook hit up the links and share your user names.

• iPhone 5 pricing

• iPhone 5 not seeing a redesign?

See you in the forums!

Facebook for iPhone, which previously took heat for making their Places icon a little too 4-squared, is now being called out by mobile designer Bryan Haggerty for copying Twitter's photo sharing UI.

Seriously Facebook? http://pic.twitter.com/0ifNsdY

Ok Facebook, enough with the flattery. http://pic.twitter.com/vSyHdpH

Though TechCrunch points out Haggerty was at LinkedIn when LinkedIn's mobile app looked a lot like Facebook. Twitter for iPhone is no stranger to flattery, however, as back when it was still Tweetie, it's "pull to refresh" feature was so intuitive it quickly spread to other apps and even web frameworks.

At a certain point, a "best" way of doing something gets discovered and for the sake of consistency and user friendliness, it makes more sense for that "best" way to become a standard. (See Lotus vs. Excel). Whether or not the Twitter photo sharing UI qualifies as something so good it should become a standard, we'll have to wait and see.

[@bhaggs via TechCrunch]

Facebook for iPhone has been updated and brings a few new features and many improvements including the ability to tag friends and places in posts.

• Added the ability to tag friends and places in posts
• Added the ability to share external links from a web view
• Added new design for Profile and Group Walls
• Improved the sharing tool to add privacy controls on posts and match your settings on the web site.
• Improved Notifications Speed
• Fixed a number of Chat bugs
• Made it easier to select filters in News Feed
• Fixed a bug with the notifications bar disappearing
• Fixed a number of Photos bugs
• Improved performance and stability overall

Facebook for iPhone is available for free.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

Google Plus Photo Importer is a new iPhone app that allows you to import photos from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and Photobucket directly into your Google+ profile.

I tried this out real quick with my Instagram photos and it worked like a charm! Importing 60 photos took approximately 30 seconds.

Google Plus Photo Importer lets you Import 100 photos in less than a minute, straight to your Google+ profile from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Photobucket.

• Access your Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and Photobucket photo albums.
• Copy 100 photos in less than a minute.
• Built on Cloud to Cloud technology: Easily import dozens of photos in seconds.
• Does not affect bandwidth or data usage “Cloud based transfers”.
• Select multiple or all photos in your albums – transfer with a single tap.
• Imports your photo’s Metadata – Titles, Descriptions.
• Save a lot of time and hassle.

Google Plus Photo Importer is available on the iPhone for $0.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

If this casting notice is accurate, Facebook is looking to throw some marketing muscle behind their upcoming Facebook for iPad app.

Lily . Lead. Female / 25 to 40 / All Ethnicities. Lead actor in a web commercial showing the benefits of a Facebook app by using an iPad. The character is stylish, moderately tech savvy, and sociable.

Quite the turnaround from Mark Zuckerberg saying iPad just wasn't mobile enough to warrant it's own app, isn't it?

[CastingNetworks.com, Thanks AE!]

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• HeyCrowd: Poll the crowd, vote on an endless stream of questions and discover what people think. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Angry Birds: It's the epic conclusion to Mine and Dine with 15 new levels! [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• Facebook Messenger: Now with links to phone numbers and addresses and an improved ability to copy and paste text. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• PhotoGrid: Browse pictures from your Facebook friends in a timeline based grid layout. Add a comment or like a photograph if you want! [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• Star Walk - 5 Stars Astronomy Guide: Now with a multi-wavelength view of the Sky: lets you explore our Galaxy and the distant Universe in a range of wavelengths from X-rays to the longest radio waves. [$2.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

If you've synced your contacts with Facebook for iPhone, it's possible that all the information from your iPhone Contacts.app are now copied over to Facebook's servers. While that means you get Facebook profile pics when your Facebook using friends call you, it also may mean Facebook now has the personal numbers of your non-Facebook using friends, and that may not be okay with them, or with you. Luckily there's a way to take back what's yours (and theirs). Instructions after the break.

[BGR]

1. Visit facebook.com from a PC and log in
2. in the top-right corner of the screen, click on Account and then Edit Friends
3. In the menu on the left side of the screen, click on Contacts
4. Here, you will see that each and every one of your contacts in Address Book are listed along with their phone numbers… wipe the look of shock and disgust from your face
5. On the right side of the screen, click on the “this page” link
6. Follow the instructions on this page — you’ll have to disable contact-sync in Facebook’s mobile app if it’s enabled — and click the Remove button

I don't buy the shock and disgust part -- at some point you hit the sync button, after all -- but it is disturbing how quickly and opaquely big online companies can suck in other people's personal info. And if you know any other cases of Facebook, or any social network, holding information you'd rather they not hold, let us know and tell us how to remove it!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Facebook has introduced a second app for iPhone, a dedicated Facebook Messenger client to help you get your IM on. Sadly, it's not a universal binary so you're limited to chunky double fuzzy on iPad (same as the regular Facebook app... until they finally launch Facebook for iPad). For hardcore Facebook Message users on the go, this will no doubt be appreciated.

Details and screenshots after the break.

[Free - App Store link]

Facebook Messenger is a faster way to message. Reach friends right on their phones, get and send messages fast, message everyone at once and more.

Top Features:

• Message friends, groups of friends or anyone in your mobile contacts
• Map your location, find your friends and make plans on the go
• Get mobile notifications so you never miss a message
• Include photos so friends can see what you're doing

Facebook is the most popular app on the iPhone and we've often said Twitter and iOS go together like chocolate and peanut butter. But social networks rise and fall. Remember MySpace, Jaiku, Buzz... Friendster? And hey, how about Google+ now that it's expanding beyond the techie early adopters, or LinkedIn which seems to always hover neither here nor there.

Which social networks do you use regularly? Let us know in the poll up top and give us the details, including which one(s) you prefer, how often you use them, -- and your profile link(s) if you feel especially social about it -- in the comments below.

Facebook for iPad has been uncovered in the recently updated Facebook for iPhone. A twitter user discovered a hack to make it visible -- editing a file on your iPad to change the UIDeviceFamily ID in the apps plist file to get the iPad interface up and running app, but you do need to have a jailbroken iPad to be able to do this.

It is not just the iPhone version blown up to fill the iPad’s screen either. This is a totally different interface with slide out navigation menus and a separate chat menu too. Techcrunch has spoken with one of its sources who claim that this is the actual Facebook app for iPad and it will be officially launched soon.

I have tested the app with my iPad and it does seem to work very well. It looks and feels totally different to the iPhone version of the app and navigation is very well done. I also tested uploading photographs and it is seamless and offers access to your photo library as well as the camera on the iPad 2. It does have a few little rough edges that will need to be ironed out but that, sadly, won't come as a shock to users of the beleaguered Facebook for iPhone app!

It will be interesting to see if Facebook expedite the launch of its iPad app now that this has leaked out.

[@AeroEchelon via Techcrunch]

Facebook for iPhone has been updated.

• Restored the Send button for Comments, Chat and Messages
• Restored friend lists to the News Feed filter
• Fixed a number of bugs that caused the app to crash

A Facebook update isn't complete without the cryptic "bug fixes" claim. What bugs have you experienced to be fixed? More interestingly, what new bugs have been introduced?

[iTunes link]

While there's no word yet on whether these new features will come to the existing Facebook for iPhone app, or the upcoming Facebook for iPad app, Facebook announced new ways to keep in touch with your friends today.

• You get a new chat design that shows you the friends you message the most.
• Easy to launch group chat
• Skype-powered video calling

The video calling competes with both Apple's FaceTime, and Google+'s Huddle, now on the web and perhaps coming soon in the Google+ iPhone app. Whether or not Facebook can get all this new junk into the mobile app's trunk is the question...

[Facebook]

Facebook for iPhone received an update today, and despite being absent from the release notes, profile pages have received a UI change. The change brings uniformity to the app in that you will find Share Photo and Write Post buttons across the top of profile pages. These are similar to the Photo, Status, and Check-in buttons on the news feed.

Here are the traditionally cryptic release notes that Facebook did include with the update:

• Various bug fixes
• Improved security

I am always bothered when Facebook doesn't inform us exactly which of the many bugs have been fixed, so if you've discovered what some of them are, please let us know!

What do you think about the new profile pages?

UPDATE: @SohrobN has let us know that you can now save photos with the Facebook app! Just tap the arrow while viewing a photo and tap Save Photo.

UPDATE: Yet another hidden feature has been discovered: the ability to turn HD VIdeo Recording on or off. You can do this within Settings.

[Free - iTunes link]

George Hotz, the jailbreak ninja that brought us LimeRa1n for iOS devices as well as the Sony PS3 jailbreak, might just be working at Facebook now.

In a video interview yesterday, Joshua Hill (P0sixninja) a member of the Chronic-Dev Team, confirmed that Geohot had a day job working at Facebook; that is why he declined the offer to help with the iPad 2 jailbreak. Apparently he does not want the attention after being recently sued by Sony.

Also Gabe Rivera of Techmeme, discovered Geohot’s Facebook page and confirmed that the first post at the top of the page said “Facebook is really an amazing place to work…first hackathon over.” The page has now been removed and throws up a message that the content is currently unavailable.

If true, this is an interesting development to say the least . Could it be linked somehow to the three recent Facebook stories which broke last week? We know Facebook is set to release a new photo sharing service, that Facebook was working on an iPad app, and also an  HTML 5 web app store.

Geohot's efforts to date seem to be in a different area than app development, but even with his experience in breaking security we are sure he would be a great asset!

Video after the break. Do you think Geohot's at Facebook and if so, what could he be working on?

[MyGreatFest, @gaberivera via Techunwrapped]

Trying to figure out how to post status updates and upload photos as the admin of a Facebook page? If you've recently created or become the admin of a Facebook Page it can be a frustrating task using Facebook for iPhone. Luckily, all you need to do is change a few settings on the web. To find out how, follow along after the break!

Before we jump into the details, let's quickly clarify how a Page is different from a Profile. A Facebook Profile is for the "everyday person" and what everyone in the world (except Georgia) uses. A Facebook Page is for organizations, businesses, celebrities, and bands and can by "liked". Check out TiPb's Facebook Page for a fabulous example!

How to switch to admin on Facebook

1. Login into Facebook on the web.
2. Click Account in the upper right corner.

3. Click Use Facebook as Page from the drop down menu.

4. Select the Page you wish to post from with your iPhone.

5. Click Edit Page in the upper right corner.

6. Click Your Settings from the left column

7. Check the first box that says "Always comment and post on your page as..."

8. Click Save Changes.

Now you're all set to post from your Facebook Page with Facebook for iPhone! Now when visiting the Page's profile with Facebook for iPhone, all uploaded photos and status updates will be posted as from that Page and show up on the news feeds of all your fans.

Bonus tip: Gain quick access to your Facebook Page by adding it to the Facebook for iPhone menu screen with the + sign.

Let us know how this works for you. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments below!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

After being glaringly absent from the App Store since the original iPad was released last year, The New York Times reports that Facebook is finally readying an official app for the iPad

The app has been in production at Facebook for almost a year, going through several design iterations, and is now in the final stages of testing, according to these people, who declined to be named because they were discussing confidential product plans.

An official Facebook for iPhone app has been available since Apple launched the App Store back in 2008. The iPad app, now rumored to be on the verge of release, should deliver a photo and video experience that's "amazing, offering full resolution and full-screen images". It's said to be a much better experience than browsing Facebook from iPad Safari and other, 3rd party iPad Facebook apps. According to the report, Facebook has put a lot of work towards overhauling and integrating Facebook's Chat and Groups features, and they're also said to be working on a unique iPad-specific version of the website.

Previously, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had gone on the record stating he didn't believe they should put efforts into making an official iPad app because the iPad "wasn't a mobile device". We wonder what could possibly have changed his mind?

[NYT]

TechCrunch has uncovered that Facebook is looking to launch an HTML5 based app store under the name of Project Spartan. The app store will offer games and news apps that run inside Safari, or as Web Clips on the home screen. Over 80 outside developers are currently working with Facebook on apps for the platform.

As of right now, there are believed to be 80 or so outside developers working with Facebook on Project Spartan. These teams are working on apps for the platform that range from games to news-reading apps. Some of the names should be familiar: Zynga and Huffington Post for example. The goal is to have these apps ready to roll in the next few weeks for a formal unveiling shortly thereafter.

This comes hot on the heels of yesterday’s news that Facebook would soon be releasing a photo sharing application for iOS devices.

Currently most Facebook apps on the web are based around Flash; this new project could purely be aimed at making them available to the huge iOS market. Obviously Facebook would like to make some money from the arrangement and this appears to be the focus. Facebook would become the distribution channel in this case and not the App Store.

What do you think? Would you be happy to pay for apps from Facebook that would only be usable in the mobile Safari browser? Let us know in the comments!

[TechCrunch]

It looks like Facebook is working on a massive photo sharing application for the iPhone. TechCrunch got their hands on documents, photos, and screenshots outlining the features: location elements, likes, comments, multi-picture mode, filters, multi-user albums, face-tagging, and more. They say it's almost like a mashup of Instagram, Color, Path, and Path's upcoming With. And though it might seem to be a reaction to iOS 5's new Twitter integration, they say it's been in development for a while now.

Since Facebook has nearly 1 billion photos stored to their service, it is reasonable for them to create an app with a focus on photos. It's unclear whether this new app will be separate from the current Facebook app, a complete overhaul of the current app, or some combination of the two. What we do know is that Facebook is working on a photo sharing app - and it's huge.

Check out all the pictures via the link below. All I ask is that this new app be a lot less buggy than what Facebook currently has available. What about you? Excited?

[TechCrunch]

Not a fan of the official Facebook for iPhone app, desperate for an alternative, but still need to get notifications? Join the club. I've never been a fan. Their cryptic "bug fix" updates never seem to improve anything and notifications are always so finicky. More often than not, I open my Facebook app to find several notifications that were never pushed to my iPhone. On top of that, the timeline can be choppy or jump randomly. And the whole "liking comments" just seems to decide on its own whether or not it's going to work that specific day.

If you feel the same way, hit the jump for some workarounds and alternative solutions to using the Facebook for iPhone application.

There's a few ways you can ditch the Facebook for iPhone application (and still receive notifications). Unfortunately, unlike Twitter there aren't any real alternative apps. However, these are the two solutions I found to be the best alternatives to using the official iPhone app.

Facebook web app + Boxcar

This is one thing I use as a fall back method when Facebook for iPhone app decides it doesn't want to push notifications to my device anymore. It works rather well. You can even route the Boxcar notifications to open the mobile site for Facebook. I actually prefer the layout and functionality of the mobile site. I'm not quite sure why Facebook has not just implemented a lot of this into the native app. They recently integrated liking comments but it hardly ever works or shows up. It always works in the mobile web version.

Simply download Boxcar from the app store, create a login and customize your Facebook notifications how you'd like them. And you can have a different sound other than tri-tone which may be a plus for those of you like me that have tons of friends that use tri-tone. I like my sounds to be unique so I know whether or not my iPhone is going off.

Facebook web app + Facebook native app

Another route is to keep the Facebook native app installed but use the web app. If notifications aren't a huge issue to you and you just want a more steady user experience, simply keep notifications active but use the mobile site instead. I simply turned off badges and hid the app in a folder. That way, I still get notifications for Facebook but I can choose to use the mobile web version instead.

The only downside to this method is if you open a Facebook notification, it will still bring it up in the native Facebook for iPhone app. I simply tap close and then launch the mobile web version. All the notifications will be right at the top of the web version. Not the best workaround but it's definitely a more stable user experience than the native app in my opinion.

Do any of you have a better way to use Facebook on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments!

Boxcar - Free

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg has famously said that "The iPad is not Mobile" and so Facebook has no plans to develop an official iPad app. Luckily there are plenty third party Facebook apps in the App Store. We've already given you our top 10 apps and games for iPad but this time we're going more specific, and more social! So read on for TiPb's Top 5 Facebook apps for your iPad!

(And hey, don't forget to friend TiPb while you're at it!)

MyPad+

MyPad+ is a great Facebook client that looks and feels like Twitter for iPad. If youre used to the official Twitter app, you will feel right at home. MyPad supports multiple logins, and implements Facebook, in a really sleek fashion. The app also includes completely native chat and a built-in browser for any of those external links.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

Friended

Friended displays lots of data in its unique column view, including the live feed, your friend's recent pictures and your recent friends. It has full native support for chat. Friended sports lots of popups as you navigate through the app, so you never lose the info in a background. You can view any external links within the app as well.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

Friendly

Friendly for iPad offers lots of features that you’d expect in a facebook app, and then adds even more. The app has support for multiple logins if you share an iPad with anyone else. You can upload pictures to facebook and Friendly even offers 16 fun photo effects, like Black and White and Sepia. It also supports facebook's “New Messages”. Friendly is the only iPad app that allows you to edit profile details, through its built in browser. There's also an option for push notifications for birthdays.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

FacelyHD

FacelyHD is basic app with a large UI for easy navigation. Despite this, the app includes full support for chat, with saved history within the app, as well as facebook’s ‘New Messages’. FacelyHD also offers push notifications for messages, pokes, friend requests and chat, which you can turn off individually.

[$0.99 - iTunes]

Facebook.com

Although its not strictly an app, Facebook.com is a great free alternative way to view facebook on your iPad. There is no need for any additional downloads and it works just as it would on a Mac or PC, with the exception of chat functionality, and apps.

[Facebook.com]

Your favorite?

So there you have them, our top 5 best ways to Facebook on your iPad. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

You know who they are -- the person you kinda sorta know, acquaintance of an acquaintance type of thing -- and they keep inviting you to events in other countries, adding you to groups you couldn't care any less about, and spamming your wall with their virus links, and you're just dying to know how to unfriend them.

Well, rest easy. It's not rude. It's not anti-social. It's not you -- it's them. They're unfriendable. And it's Facebook, with their "invite all", "add to group", and other easy-to-abuse buttons. You're not breaking any covenants that ought not be broken. You're simply restoring your Facebook sanity. And we're going to help you... after the break.

Luckily you can unfriend just such a person using the Facebook for iPhone app, or on the web. Since we're an iPhone blog, we'll stick with the iPhone app for now.

1. Launch Facebook for iPhone
2. Tap on Friends
3. Scroll down to find the person in need of an unfriending
4. Tap on their name
5. Tap on the action button at the top right
6. Tap the red Unfriend button
7. Tap to confirm the unfriending

That's it! The guilty party has been right and properly unfriended and you can go on with a cleaner, less stressful Facebook experience. (Or at least as much as is possible.)

Have any other Facebook tips for us? Drop them in the comments!

Note: No Seth Cliffords were actually unfriended during the making of this tip.

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

TiPb nation, as you may or may not be aware, a couple of weeks ago the TiPb Facebook page (along with a few other prominent tech sites) was torn down and it took Facebook the better part of a day to figure out how they were gamed and get it back online. And frankly, we're not sure all our TiPb Facebook friends made it through the ordeal with us.

So, we're calling all iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV lovers, we're asking all gadget enthusiasts and techies -- we're counting on each and every one of you to head on over to TiPb's newly restored Facebook page and become our friend. (i.e. go to the page and hit the "Like" button!)

In return we'll give you the very best in iOS coverage on Facebook... and we'll give one of you (old friend or new!) one of these gorgeous Jabra STONE2 Bluetooth headsets courtesy of the TiPb Accessory Store! (W00t!)

Details after the break, but really... you've friended us already, right?!

Yes, one of our Facebook friends, whether you've liked us from the start or just started liking us today, will win a shiny new Jabra STONE 2. Don't even use an iPhone? No problem, we like you anyway, so Like us back because it will work not just with iPhone but with Android, BlackBerry, HP, Windows Phone... anything that supports Bluetooth. Here are the highlights, so tell your friends and get with the Likes!

- Voice Control allows users to answer or reject calls by the use of the voice - Voice Guidance – Tells who is calling, battery status, set-up and more - Noise Blackout Extreme - Dual microphone technology for excellent sound - Four ergo-designed Ear gels(tm) for all-day comfort - Portable Jabra STONE2 Charger enables charging on the go - Stream multimedia from your phone (A2DP) - Connect up to 2 bluetooth devices at the same time - Comes with its own portable charging unit for easy charging at home or on the go - Designed with soft rubber padding making it so comfortable you don’t even realize you’re wearing it - Last number redialing - An elegant design with a completely new, ground-breaking shape

Head on over to the TiPb Facebook page and Like us now!

We'd like to know that as well. Late last night we were sent a very brief notice by Facebook saying they were removing the TiPb page. Nothing by way of specific explanation, no attempt to address any concerns, nothing. Just whoosh, another page annihilated.

We say "another" because it looks like we're not alone. Ars Technica's page is gone to, as are the pages for several other technology and gadget sites.

Interestingly, Facebook has given ReadWriteWeb an official statement on the matter (we continue to wait for any update on our situation and have not received any sort of statement). "When we do this, we notify the person who shared the content so he or she can take appropriate action, which may include contacting the reporting party or following up with Facebook," a Facebook spokesperson told ReadWriteWeb. The only problem with this is that Facebook didn't tell us which content was allegedly infringing—as you can see from our notice above, Facebook's notification told us that "Ars Technica" was the infringing content. How dare we post our own content to our own Facebook page!

Likewise. We all put a lot of trust into Facebook -- trust in their keeping our personal information safe and our content online. Hopefully they'll get back to us, to Ars, and to everyone else affected as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, please continue to follow us on @TiPb and via RSS, and check out the link below as Ars tracks the ongoing problem.

Update: Facebook has been in touch with us and have now restored our page. Thanks FB and everyone who worked hard on getting this done today.

Update 2: Facebook gave TiPb (and others) the following statements:

We have investigated a number of recent intellectual property cases and have restored four pages as a result. We apologize for any inconvenience. Abuse of DMCA and other intellectual property notice procedures is a challenge for every major Internet service and we take it seriously. We have invested significant resources into creating a dedicated team that uses specialized tools, systems and technology to review and properly handle intellectual property notices. This system evaluates a number of factors when deciding how to respond and, in many cases, we require the reporter to provide additional information before we can take action. As a result of these efforts, the vast majority of intellectual property notices that we receive are handled without incident. Of course, no system is perfect and we are always striving to improve our practices. As such, we will be considering the results of our investigation into this matter as we continue to refine our systems and procedures.

Which unfortunately does not address the system that led to this failure, nor provide any assurances content owners will be contacted and given an opportunity to address any concerns, especially erroneous and or malicious complaints, before Facebook pulls down pages again. Hopefully a more comprehensive response and revised procedure and policy will follow.

Read Write Web has more on the issues still surrounding this. [Read Write Web]

[Ars Technica]

RockMelt has released a free iPhone version of its popular desktop app, a social-network, orientated web browser, that integrates with your Facebook/Twitter accounts, to share sites with your friends/followers as you surf, or you can update your social network statuses directly from the app. RockMelt for iPhone, brings all of these to the iPhone.

Since RockMelt uses your Facebook login, the iPhone App offers real-time syncing for your bookmarks, RSS feeds or social networks, between your iPhone and other computer. As well as offering their new "View Later" feature, which allows you bookmark specific items, like sites or tweets which you can read on your computer.

Unfortunately, there is no iPad app, as of yet.

Are you a RockMelt user? Will the iPhone app be replacing your current iPhone browser? Check out screenshots and a video after the break.

[FREE - iTunes Link]

Facebook for iPhone has been updated with the ability to stalk find your friends.

• Find your Friends on Facebook using your phone
• Add your phone to your profile
• Bug fixes

Apple was rumored to have been working on Find my Friends, did Facebook just beat them to the punch? Also, anyone else wish Facebook would explicitly list which bugs have been fixed? If you've noticed any fixed bugs (or the arrival of new ones) let us know in the comments below!

[Free - iTunes link]

Facebook has made some backend changes that allow users to 'like' comments from stories in their news feed. This has been a much-requested feature from Facebook users and, unfortunately, Facebook has only half-delivered.

As you can see from the screenshots above, comments are only "likeable" when viewing from the news feed. If you access comments from anywhere else, say notifications or a friend's profile page, you cannot 'like' them.

Who's excited about this feature and can't wait for it to be app wide?

Facebook for iPhone has been updated with map view and event check-in.

• Added Map View for Places
• Added the ability to Check in to Events that you're attending
• Added the ability to unfriend from the phone
• Improved News Feed
• Improved notifications UI

The update notes do not include bug fixes, but the Facebook for iPhone Facebook page claims that they've "fixed a ton of bugs". Peronsally, I've experienced a couple bugs within a few minutes of installing the update. Specifically, after tapping a notification about a comment on my photo, the comment was non-existant, and two of my friend's photos had a grayed-out comment box even though they had comments and I had permission to comment on them.

Anyone download the update? What do you think of the new features? Are you still experiencing any bugs?

[Free - iTunes link]

TiPb brings you a glossary of common iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple TV social networking terms for Twitter, Facebook and more

Reading up on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Apple TV and wondering what all those social networking terms are? From follower to friend, RT to like, we've got you -- and every term we can think of -- covered below!

For even more iOS and Apple-related terms see our complete iPhone and iPad glossary and our guide to common Internet, SMS Text, and iMessage slang. And as always, if we're missing anything, add additions and corrections in the comments below!

• @: Used to target specific Twitter users. See Mention.
• #: Used to create clickable search terms in Twitter. Clicking on #iPhone would show a timeline of all other tweets with #iPhone in it.
• +1: A way to "like" something so it shows up in your Google account
• Check in: Submitting your location to Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, or similar location-based app.
• Circle: A way to organize people you want to follow on Google+
• DM: A "Direct Message" or private communication sent from you to another Twitter user who follows you. (You can only DM people who follow you.)
• Follow: A uni-directional relationship in Twitter where you see another user's updates but they don't see yours, and they can DM you but you can't DM them back. (Unless you both choose to follow each other.)
• Follower: Someone who Follows you on Twitter.
• Friend: A bi-directional relationship in Facebook where you connect with another user and they're granted a connection back to you.
• **Game Center:
• Google+: Google's social network
• Group: A way to connect Facebook friends into a small community with shared interest (e.g. you could create a Facebook group for your book club.)
• iMessage: Apple's new SMS/MMS like instant messenger service
• Instagram: A popular photo sharing network
• Like: A way to share content on Facebook. When you "Like" a link (such as a TiPb story) it appears in your Facebook feed and your Friends have a chance of seeing it.
• Mention: A way to make sure a specific Twitter user will get your post in their timeline. Requires you to put an @[username] into the tweet (e.g. @TiPb will make sure we see your tweet). If a tweet begins with an @mention only the specific user mentioned and people who follow both you and the specific user will see the message. If the @mention isn't at the beginning, anyone following you will also see it. (Previously called @replies.)
• Messages: Facebook's new hybrid email, SMS, IM platform used to privately communicate with Facebook friends.
• Page: A non-personal profile on Facebook or Google+, typically for clubs, businesses, etc.
• Ping: Apple's social music network integrated into iTunes
• RLRT: Real life re-tweet, or posting something you hear on the real world.
• RT: A "Re-Tweet" or republishing another user's tweet to your own followers. Previously you had to copy/paste the tweet and manually add RT: [@username] in front of it. Now Twitter provides an automatic API for doing it (though some users still prefer "old style" manual re-tweets). -- Share: Post something you like, such as a link or picture or video, to your social network
• Timeline: A list of a user's Twitter status updates in reverse chronological order.
• Tweeps: Slang term for Twitter Peeps (People), aka your Followers.
• Tweet: A Twitter posting, limited to 140 characters (so that the entire message and up to 30 character username can fit in a 160 character SMS text message).
• Twoosh: A tweet of exactly 140 characters.
• Via: an alternate form of re-publishing a tweet where, instead of prefacing with RT, a /via @[username] is placed at the end.

Just get a new Verizon iPhone, or a new iPhone on any network, and curious how to get to your Facebook account? If so, we're going to show you how dive into the mobile-social wave with grace using the official Facebook for iPhone app. And although Facebook doesn't currently support an official app for the iPad, we'll show you a few alternatives to help you get started after the break!

There are umpteen millions of Facebook users and Facebook for iPhone is probably the most download app in mobile. Still, if you're new to social networking and don't yet have a Facebook profile, that's where you ned to start. Just head on over to Facebook.com and register an account before getting started.

Now on to some basic tasks using the Facebook for iPhone app...

Facebook for iPhone

Fortunately Facebook provides an official app in the App Store alongside their mobile touch version in Safari. The native app allows iOS users to view the news feed, upload photos and video, check in to places, view upcoming events and birthdays, chat with your friends and a lot more. Here are a few quick tips to help you get started using Facebook on your iPhone.

News Feed

The News Feed where you'll find all of your friend's status updates in one place. If your friends upload any photos or videos you'll be able to see them in a stream of aggregated updates. From the news feed you'll be able to comment on a status, jump into a photo or 'like' a status update you find interesting or compelling. If you see an interesting link in the news feed the app has a built-in web browser so you don't get kicked out of the app if you want to continue reading. You can also filter down the news feed to only show photos, notes, status updates etc if you want to cut down on the noise and get to specific updates.

Update your status, photos or location

To get started with the first tip you'll want to go back into the news feed. Here you will be given three options along the top: Photo, Status and Check In. You'll be able to post a quick status update, pull a photo or video from the iOS photo-picker to upload or check yourself into the nearest location and broadcast it to your network of friends. The process is easy and straightforward. If you're uploading a picture of a friend, you'll also be able to tag that friend from directly within the app!

Chat

Most of my friends use Facebook chat, so if I'm looking to communicate with one of my friends on-the-fly I'll usually jump into the chat instead of posting something on their wall. To use Facebook Chat on the iPhone just tap the Chat icon in the main section. Next you'll be taken to an alphabetical list of friends that are online, and from here you can tap a friend to begin chatting. If you don't want to be seen online whenever getting into Facebook for iPhone, just tap 'Go Offline' in the upper-right corner of the chat. The latest update to Facebook for iPhone fixed issues with inconsistencies in the chat, so don't worry about always having to go offline every time you launch the app if you want to appear offline most of the time.

Search

If you're quickly trying to find one of your friends all you have to do is tap the search field at the top in the main section of the app. From here you'll be able to filter down your list of friends and jump to any friend's profile. From the profile viewer, you can comment or 'like' your friends status updates and photos just as you can from the news feed. You can also search the entire Facebook user directory by selecting 'Everyone' below the search field, or 'Pages' to filter through different Facebook pages.

Notifications

With the latest update to Facebook for iPhone, Facebook has also redesigned the notifications section allowing for a much more aesthetically pleasing interface making it easier to sort through your latest notifications. Using the Notifications section is also a very easy process, as you simply tap your desired notification to be taken to the corresponding update. You'll be able to view any new comments or changes since the last time you were online from the notifications section.

Facebook apps for iPad

Unfortunately Facebook has yet to release an official app for the iPad -- they apparently don't view the iPad as a mobile device (say what?) -- so we've rounded up a few great alternatives to use until Facebook comes to their senses.

1. Friendly for Facebook is an app that recently went free, making it a great way to get started if your not looking to spend any money. This app is all around a great full featured way to engage with friends on Facebook and allows you to upload photos which is something you don't get in Safari. You can even get into limited profile editing and customize the color of the layout in the settings. Also look for its counterpart Friendly Plus for Facebook ($.99) which takes out the ads. [iTunes -- free]

2. FacePad was released last week and combines the look and feel of the official Twitter app for iPad, but it's for Facebook. It really doesn't get more simple than that. If you've ever used Twitter on your iPad then you'll probably be able to pick up the layout right off the bat. One thing you're not getting is the ability to upload photos or video and there are a few bugs that need to be worked out, but the app has definitely made a stir in the iPad community and has room to grow. If you like the Twitter app for iPad, check out FacePad today! [iTunes -- $.99]

3. Facebook Browser for iPad isn't one I'd personally recommend, but it does offer some nice features. I'm not a fan of the layout and design, but others might like it. You can do all the regular things like check your messages, view the live stream and comment on status updates. There are a couple of themes to choose from, but transitions are slow and the app feels more like a webpage than a native app, however it has some promise. Check it out! [iTunes -- $.99]

4. Facebook Touch HD has similar aesthetic qualities to that of Friendly for Facebook, but doesn't quite pull it off with as much grace. Although you can do things like upload photos and even save your friend's photos to your camera roll, the app doesn't have as much polish as I feel it should and crashed more than once while I was playing with it. There are a few things they need to work on given the price, but if all you care about is accessing Facebook outside of the browser then maybe this one is for you! [iTunes -- $2.99]

Remember that you can always get back to the familiar Facebook layout by using Safari, but you'll lose some abilities (uploading photos). Then again, you're also gaining other abilities ('liking' someone's comment within a status update), so it's really a give-and-take game until Facebook officially comes out with a killer way to use the service on the iPad.

As always, let us know if you have any questions or run into any issues and we'll do our best to help out in the comments. Also let us know what your favorite apps are for browsing Facebook on the iPad below!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Some Facebook for iPhone users are experiencing two rather annoying bugs -- Facebook does not send their status updates to their friends' live feeds, and Facebook for iPhone seems to be missing from all users' privacy settings. Details after the break!

Facebook for iPhone status update bug

When a use who is experiencing this bug updates their status with the Facebook for iPhone app, the status only appears on their wall and not on their friends' live feeds. Meaning, in order for one of the user's friends to see the status, they must go directly to the user's wall - which most people don't do. An irritating bug to say the least.

Workaround

• Facebook's mobile site and touch site work just fine. So you can use them until Facebook fixes this problem.
• Use a different app to post Facebook status updates

Facebook for iPhone missing privacy settings

The other issue with the Facebook for iPhone app has to do with privacy. When you add an app to your Facebook account, it gets added to the list of apps you use in your privacy settings. It is here that you can see what information any given app has access to, as well as remove any ability that you do not approve of. The problem is that the Facebook for iPhone app is not included in the list. This means that no one knows for certain what permissions Facebook for iPhone has.

Workaround

• Stop using Facebook for iPhone (not an acceptable solution, Facebook needs to fix this!)

Are you experiencing either of these bugs? If so, have you discovered any other fixes or workarounds? Are you using the mobile or touch site, or have you installed a different app to post status updates? What are your thoughts on Facebook for iPhone being non-existent in your privacy settings? Sound off below!

[Facebook discussions, thanks Bob for sending this in!]

If you use MobileMe, Windows Live, Yahoo!, or AOL for email, then you can have Ping search your contacts for friends who are also using Ping as well as send annoying invites to those friends who are not using ping. Here's how:

1. Go to Ping in iTunes and in the "Find People" box in the right column, click "email" in "invite friends by email"
2. A box will pop up asking you to list out the email address of those you would like to invite. Ignore this and notice the logos for MobileMe, Windows Live, Yahoo, and AOL at the bottom of the box.
3. Click the appropriate logo.
4. Sign in.
5. The window will divide into two sections: the top will list your contacts who use Ping but whom you don't follow, complete with avatars, and the bottom will list the names and email of your contacts who do not use ping.
6. Use the checkboxes and deselect/select all links to send follow requests to those you'd like to follow and email invites to those you'd like to invite.

Ping has been off to a rocky start and this may help, but probably not enough. Personally, I only found 8 more friends using this search feature. Ping is also integrated with Twitter, but I don't see Ping even having a chance to take off until Facebook jumps on board.

What do you think? Does the email search help make Ping more relevant?

[Apple]

Facepad for iPad is a a brand new Facebook application that just recently hit the app store. It may be the Facebook app most iPad users have been longing for. Facebook has made it apparent they don't think an iPad specific app is necessary. I strongly disagree. Browsing Facebook through Safari isn't painful but how do I upload photos or videos? I can't. Apps like Friendly for Facebook step in to fill this gap but they aren't perfect.

Facepad is definitely a step in the right direction but it still leaves room for improvement. As of now there isn't currently a way to upload photos and video. Friendly for Facebook does offer this. The reason I say I think this app may be the one iPad users are drawn to is the interface. It's absolutely gorgeous. It reminds me a lot of a default iOS app or Twitter for iPad.

For a 1.0 release, you can already tell it has potential. I did experience a bug when viewing photos. Sometimes while scrolling through pictures, the photo window would just disappear and I'd have to reload it. Hopefully this will be something that's fixed in an update. I'm excited to see what the developers can do with this app. Facebook hasn't been too great at supporting their own native iPhone app so I'm definitely willing to see if someone else can do better. What about you guys? What features would you like to see implemented in an update?

Hit the jump for a couple more images!

via TechCrunch

How many iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads were opened on Christmas? Check out the Facebook for iPhone download spike above for one datapoint. A second datapoint comes from Tap Tap Revenge 4:

Tapulous tells us that peak Christmas downloads reached 45,000 per hour, and that holiday download traffic is twice the levels of last year.

Facebook is probably the most popular iPhone app of all time and TTR4 is among the most popular right now, but the mapping is probably still not be one-to-one. Either way, that's a lot of iOS devices under the tree this year.

[allfacebook.com, Business Insider, via Daring Fireball x2]

Facebook has yet again released an update for their iPhone and iPod touch application, this time with some long overdue UI improvements as well as bug fixes.

• Improved reliability in chat and messages
• Improved notifications UI
• Fixed memory usage
• Fixed some crashes
• Walls you cannot post on no longer show the text field at the top
• Restore ability to post as a page that you admin
• Fixed group photos
• Various Places improvements

Having just downloaded this update and played around with it for a few minutes I will say the new notifications UI is long overdue and provides a much cleaner and easier to use interface. Hopefully this update will also fix many of the issues users have been hoping to see fixed for a while now.

So go ahead and grab your updated Facebook app and let us know what you think of the improvements and as always if you have any issues we want to hear about those as well.

Flipboard for iPad just received a fairly big update, including the ability to add feeds from Google Reader, Flickr and more! One new feature of note is the option to post photos and status updates to Twitter, Facebook and other real-time social networks.

Flipboard was initially released back in July and received a lot of early buzz. The app offers a dynamic and unique interface for browsing your social media feeds in a magazine-like format, flipping through "pages" of real-time content from your friends on Twitter and Facebook -- a first of its kind.

Now that they've added more streams of content, the app has far more reach and usefulness for users. Take a look at the full update list after the break, and let us know what you think of the update in the comments below!

[iTunes - free]

• Be informed. Sync with Google Reader to read your feeds, folders and friends' shared items. Star, share and comment on stories.
• Be amazed. Browse all Flickr has to offer, including photostream, favorites, groups, your contacts' photos and interesting photos of the day .
• Be fulfilled. Read full content right away with more beautiful layout. Flip through gorgeous Flipboard Pages from Washington Post, Bon Appetit and more.
• Be social. Flip through your Facebook groups, fan pages, and photos from your feed. Browse your tweets, Twitter favorites, @mentions and lists.
• Be expressive. Post photos, status updates and even Flipboard pages across Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader.
• Be faster. Switch between sections faster using our instant section selector. Enjoy faster performance throughout your Flipboard.

WeeMee Avatar Creator [iTunes], the quick, easy way to make a fabulous looking new profile pic for Facebook, Twitter, or just to spice up your contacts, is back with an even more fabulous update filled with Christmas and Hanukkah items to really deck yourself out for the holidays. What could be better than that?

Getting it for free!

Well, the kind folks at WeeMee have given us a ton of promo codes to give away for the update and now they're international!!! You can win in Canada, the UK, Australia, and pretty much everywhere there's an App Store with WeeMee in it!

If you want one, here's all you have to do:

• Follow @weemeeapp and @TiPb on Twitter
• Re-Tweet this on Twitter:
  • Follow @TiPb and @WeeMeeApp for great holiday give-aways! Details here: http://bit.ly/eCVX2g

Now some of our writers have the codes (we're not saying which!) so make sure you follow them as well to double, triple, quadruple your chances of winning! If they can't DM you, they can't give you free stuff! (Yeah, there might be other stuff as well!)

• @reneritchie (Rene)
• @GeorgiaTiPb (Georgia)
• @iChadman (Chad)
• @JFSikora (Jeremy)
• @llofte (Leanna)
• @iMuggle (Ally)
• @andrewwray (Andrew)
• @Brian_Tufo (Brian)
• @chrisoldroyd (Chris)
• @farbod_21 (Farbod)
• @jorjlim (George)

Give away starts now and we'll be DM'ing the codes throughout the week.

Ready, set, Tweet!

Facebook still hasn't bothered to release a version of their app for iPad, so it's good news that third-party app, Friendly for Facebook, has just gone free.

Friendly for Facebook is now ad supported, but users have the ability to dismiss ads that pop up at the bottom of the screen (and they're few and far between to begin with). I've been using their paid version for a while now, and I really enjoy the features available in Friendly for Facebook that simply aren't available on the Facebook website. Uploading photos, for example, is a feature I use quite a bit that wouldn't be available without Friendly for Facebook.

You can also grab the $.99 version without ads if you'd like. If you're using Friendly for Facebook, let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

[Free - iTunes]

Facebook's new-style messages service -- an abstraction of email, IM, and SMS -- is already working in the latest version of Facebook for iPhone... once you've had the feature rolled out to your account. Facebook isn't the first to try and redefine the ways we communicate online. Google has done it twice already, once successfully with the eccentric but reserved Gmail and again unsuccessfully with the wikichat that was Wave. Facebook is a social network however -- the social network -- so their take is decidedly different and whether or not it catches on remains to be seen.

Setup is simple on the web. You get an invitation, you accept, then you get your @facebook email address, verify your SMS number (if you want), and login to chat (also if you want). After that you're hit with the new interface. Once that's setup, the next time you launch Facebook on iPhone you're alerted that new-style messages are available (same way Places alerted you when it arrived) and you're good to go.

We'll be testing it out over the next week or so but in the meantime check out the screenshots after the break and if you have any questions or comments, you know where to leave them!

On the second day of the Web 2.0 Summit, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made some comments on his company's dealings with Apple over Ping.

Zuckerberg also had an explanation for why the company had not partnered with Apple to let it pull in social data for Ping. He says that Facebook has had to invest tens of millions of dollars into infrastructure to enable games from large developers like Zynga, which is why Facebook and Zynga agreed to a formal alliance. Zuckerberg says that if the company is going to make an investment like this, “we want to have an understanding that you won’t just import our data — and that you try to contribute back. We’re working through that.”

Now that we somewhat understand the basics for why Facebook is still blocking ping maybe they and Apple can come to terms and work out some sort of deal to incorporate Facebook into Ping to help make it more useable.

Recently Twitter allowed Apple to intergrate their services into Ping so it would be extremely useful and welcome for Facebook to follow suit but we will have to continue to wait through the Apple and Facebook negotiations.

Do you think Ping needs Facebook to thrive as a social network or do you think Twitter is enough for users to be more interested in utilizing the Ping services?

[ TechCrunch ]

Facebook held a press conference earlier today to announce their new messaging system. Many believed this would be an email killer to compete with the likes of Gmail and Yahoo! Instead, Facebook is launching a revamped messaging system that unifies all communication through email, IM or SMS into an aggregated messaging stream. "It's not e-mail" said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the press event this morning.

The new messaging system is composed of three parts: seamless messaging, cross-platform conversation history and the social inbox. The latter is an inbox for filtering the messages you want, organized by the people you care about. It’s designed to highlight conversations with your real friends and be spam free.

Facebook will also be assigning individual email addresses under the facebook.com email domain which correlates to the Facebook username in question. The new messaging system will be rolling out to select users over the next couple of months.

What we're curious about is if the update to Facebook Mobile for iPhone late last night had anything to do with the announcement this morning, or will we be getting yet another update shortly to enable it? And most importantly, will you be using it?

[Facebook via Mashable]

Facebook has once again updated their iPhone and iPod touch app, this time adding access to account and privacy settings and fixing a photo upload bug. The new version (3.3.2 for those keeping track at home) lets you access the settings via the Account button at the top left of the home screen, but then simply loads the Facebook.com web page. It's nowhere as good a user experience as if they added those settings to the app proper, but it does mean Facebook won't have to update the app whenever they update those pages (it also means you can use it as a way to move between the app interface and the website without having to jump to Safari).

The photo upload bug fix is nice to see. The "no iPad version" bug persists, however.

If you've tried out the settings, and if photo uploads are finally working for you the way they should, let us know!

Facebook held a press conference the other day at which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook does not need an iPad app because the iPad is not a mobile device. The latter part of that statement is an argument in itself, but I want to give three big reasons why Facebook does indeed need to provide their customers with an iPad app.

Media uploads

The biggest problem with using Facebook on Safari is the inability to upload photos and videos. One may argue that the iPad does not have a camera, hence there is no need to upload photos with it. This is simply not true. I may find a photo on the web that I saved to my photo library and desire to share on Facebook. Or perhaps I'm on vacation and uploaded a bunch of photos to my iPad with my camera connection kit and want to share them on Facebook. I could have even synced photos to my iPad and edited them with one of the many photo editing apps available. It'd be nice to immediately upload to Facebook without taking the intermediate step of transferring the photos to my computer first. You get the point. There are many situations in which one might desire to upload a photo to Facebook with their iPad.

Chat

Facebook is a social networking platform and, as such, the ability to chat with friends is a big part of the service. But good luck chatting while on your iPad, the ability to do so is simply impossible.

Tagging friends in status updates

When writing a status update for Facebook on a Mac or PC, if you start typing a friend's name preceded by the @ symbol, a drop down menu appears with names of friends you can tag in your post (ex: "@Rene Ritchie"). If you try to do this on an iPad, the menu simply does not appear, making it impossible to tag friends in status updates on the iPad. This is frustrating, to say the least.

These are just three reasons why Facebook needs to design an app for the iPad. There is also the fact that Facebook on the web is designed to be a used with a mouse, not a finger. Yes, it (mostly) works with Safari on the iPad, but the fact of that matter is that the Facebook experience on the iPad could be so much greater with it's own app. Why doesn't Zuckerberg see this?

One of my theories is ads. It's no secret that Facebook makes their money from ads. Most people who use Facebook on their iPhone or iPod touch also spend a lot of time using the web version and thus still see ads. But if an iPad user had an ad-free Facebook application on their iPad, they may never use the web version again. I wouldn't. I have a feeling this is what Zuckerberg meant when he said the iPad is not mobile. iPhone users primarily use the Facebook app when the are out and about - away from a computer. But many iPad users will browse Facebook while at home sitting on their couch - 15 feet away from their desktop or laptop. That's million of users who may potentially never encounter a Facebook ad again.

My solution? Bring the ads! Sure, it may initially upset users to see ads when using a Facebook app on their iPad, but at least the overall experience will be better than using Safari. Sometimes I wonder if Zuckerberg has forgotten who his true customers are - Facebook users.

What do you think about the lack of a Facebook app on the iPad? Do you think ads may being playing a part in its nonexistence? Do you want a separate iPad app or are you happy with using Safari?

Sound off in the comments below!

Mark Zuckerberg was asked about a Facebook app for iPad today during Facebook's mobile event, and his response to Mashable's Ben Parr was that the iPad isn't mobile. Parr countered that Apple would disagree with Zuckerberg, to which Zuckerberg said "well, sorry". Former Android lead and current Facebook mobile head, Eric Tseng then intercepted the question and said they were still working on their strategy for tablets and that, as a new form factor, it required a new approach. Parr extrapolates:

The real hint to Facebook’s iPad plans, though, is that Tseng focused on the form factor and not iOS. This could mean that Facebook’s looking to build an HTML5 version of its website optimized for tablets. At the very least, Facebook seems intent on keeping a consistent experience across all tablet devices.

In the meantime though, Tseng points out that Facebook is accessible via the iPad through the official website (which is pretty darn functional) and through touch.facebook.com.

Whether iPad is "mobile" or "portable" is debatable. What's not debatable is that iPad runs a mobile operating system, iOS, which doesn't allow websites to access the Photo picker, so you can't upload pictures or video. You need (forgive me) an app for that. And using the iPhone app on the iPad just isn't a great user experience.

Twitter understands this. Many third party Twitter app developers understand this. Frustrated users certainly understand this. The question is, why doesn't the 20-year old billionaire genius get it?

[Mashable]

During the livestream of Facebook's special mobile event today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook for iPhone would be getting a major update, including support for Facebook's new Groups feature and improvements to Places integration -- making it more intuitive and easier to check your friends into a specific venue.

Facebook will also be making the inclusion of photos to a check-in within Places more simple and straight-forward, and introducing Deals for local discounts. All great news for Facebook users who use the service on their iPhone.

Zuckerberg also mentioned that their App Store app is used on the majority of all iPhones in the market today.

UPDATED: The new version is live in the App Store now, go get it and let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

Like our sibling site, Android Central, TiPb has been invited to a mobile event at Facebook HQ this Wednesday, November 3. If it had just been AC, I'd have started wondering about that Facebook phone. Just TiPb and I might have thought iPad app. Both Android and iOS at the same bash and maybe Facebook is ready to make some bigger cross-platform waves. With former Android lead Eric Tseng and former iOS developer Joe Hewitt busy in the mobile division, who knows what they have up their social little sleeves?

Speculate in the comments!

Farmville by Zynga is finally available to iPad owners, in all its HD farming goodness. First made popular on Facebook, we saw Farmville for iPhone. The iPad version is also a free download and as usual, all your normal stuff from your Facebook profile should come down just like it does on the iPhone version. I'm personally not a Farmville user, but I'm sure Leanna is jumping up and down right about now.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

[iTunes Link]

It looks like Apple's Steve Jobs and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg recently sat down over dinner to talk Ping. The LA Times reports:

Apparently Jobs invited Zuckerberg for dinner at his house to talk about Ping two weeks ago. That's when a tipster spotted them on a stroll in Palo Alto.

A passerby also reportedly saw the two taking a quick stroll around the block afterwards. Hopefully they were able to smooth things over a bit, and we also suspect as much, as Facebook CTO Bret Taylor recently stated that he felt "very confident" Facebook and Apple should be able to work out their relationship related to the two social/music networking services.

Ping, which launched with the release of iTunes 10, was supposed to include Facebook integration to help the new service garner quicker traction. There was speculation that the two companies had discussed a partnership up to 18 months prior to the launch of Ping. But this relationship quickly fizzled after Facebook blocked Ping's Facebook Connect feature shortly after the service was made available to iTunes users, and Apple quickly removed it.

So do think Apple and Facebook will come to terms with an agreement? And more importantly, do you think Google's Eric Schmidt will be upset his last coffee date is now having dinner with his arch rival?

[LA Times, image via Engadget]

by Andrew Wray

During a press event today, Facebook announced new Groups, which aim to simplify and make social interaction more communal, data portability which sounds like it takes a little of the wall off Facebook's garden, and application control, which should let you better decide who gets your data.

Mashable's got the goods on all of it:

Groups are closed by default (but can be secret or open) and are designed to be spaces where small groups of friends share information, with each group controlled by the entirety of its members — an important new direction for Facebook. The group chat feature is just as it sounds; members can participate in back-and-forth IM conversations with everyone in the group at the same time.

On the data portability front, Facebook has now made it possible to download all of the content and information that you have added to Facebook. This means that you can download your photos, videos, wall posts, conversation threads and status updates.

How -- and of course when -- we'll see groups implemented on the iPhone Facebook app is anyone's guess, as is when -- or if -- we'll see a Facebook app for iPad. We did get Places fairly quickly in the US and more and more countries are rolling out every week, so it could be on it's way.

While we wait and see, what do you think of the changes in general?

[Mashable, Mashable]

Facebook CTO Bret Taylor is "very confident" Facebook and Apple will be able to come to terms on integrating Apple's social music network with Facebook's social people network.

Ping launched with Facebook Connect so you could more easily find your friends, but the service was blocked by Facebook and then pulled by Apple, with rumors following the two had been going back and forth over a deal for up to 18 months and Steve Jobs complaining Facebook wanted "onerous" terms.

While Apple improved Ping with iTunes 10.0.1's inclusion of a sidebar and the ability to Ping music you already owned from within iTunes, the service is still off to a rocky start. It remains inaccessible from a web browser when you're away from your desktop iTunes and don't have an iPhone with you (blasphemy, but it could happen), and otherwise still feels like a work in progress.

So here's the question: would heavy Facebook integration make you want to use Ping more?

[Business Insider]

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Google Voice returns to the App Store and brings some Basic and some Ringtones along for the ride. We're talking Facebook phones, Verizon rumors, Apple buying Faces and Guides, and more. Get social folks, it's iPhone live.

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Facebook is down. Now don't panic, the world isn't ending, no one forgot to pay the interwebs bill, and no, it didn't catch a bug from the Facebook for iPhone app -- it's just down.

These things happen. Luckily our iPhones can still call people for really real.

Hold to hope, it should be back soon. Let us know when you can access it again in the comments.

UPDATE: Lots of readers are saying it's back up for them now.

Facebook 3.2.3 for iPhone and iPod touch has just hit the iTunes App Store and once again, it's all about the bug fixes:

• Improved, more streamlined login experience for developers using the Facebook SDK
• Fixed a crash when receiving push notifications
• Fixed a crash when navigating in Messages
• Fixed inconsistent notification counts in notification bar and application badge
• Fixed a problem where people would appear twice in Here Now on a Place view
• Fixed a problem that could cause the toolbar to not be shown on a Place view

Note: Facebook Places is only available in a limited number of countries. We're working on making this available in other countries soon.

If you've been having issues (like Ally!), let us know if this has fixed them. If you're waiting on Facebook for iPad, hey, it'll show up sometime after they get that Facebook Phone done, no doubt... Sigh.