July 26, 2011

Facebook iPad App Is Leaked Before its Release


A college student has found the Facebook (News - Alert) iPad app – before it was released. Canadian Marvin Bernal discovered the iPad app in the code of Facebook's iPhone app.

He then sent a tweet to the public with the information, according to Daily Tech.

Facebook is likely close to launching the app since the code was found attached to the iPhone (News - Alert) app, according to Daily Tech. No exact launch date has been released by Facebook. Users have been waiting for the app’s release for about a year – so far, said TechCrunch. Over a month ago, The New York Times reported that the app was supposed to be released in “coming weeks.”

“During the launch of the Skype video chatting integration a few weeks ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (News - Alert) noted that the company was gearing up for a full slate of launches in the coming weeks,” TechCrunch added. “The iPad app will be one of them.”

The app has been in development for about a year, TMCnet reported, citing a story in The Times. And this version of the app will likely “encompass the iPhone and iPad versions of the app,” Daily Tech said.  The Daily Tech explained that the iPad app for Facebook is an application that many users want – with some displeasure over the iPhone version of the app.

The iPad app for Facebook is in HTML5 code. The Daily Tech praises its “navigation system” and photo viewer. It features a menu which can be accessed by the touch of a button on a screen, Daily Tech added.

“The iPad version looks and navigates much better than the iPhone version,” the Daily Tech commented.

In its analysis of the new app, The New York Times said in a blog that the app “could be a boon to both Facebook and Apple (News - Alert).” There are over 250 million “active” users of Facebook who use the Facebook site via a mobile device, The Times said. Facebook has some 700 million users globally, The Times added. Also, a Facebook iPad app is likely to lead to more customers for Apple, The Times said.

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Ed Silverstein is a TMCnet contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell