After what seemed like an endless toil, Facebook finally put a decent app together for those frequenting the social networking site. Unfortunately for the Android users out there, Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users have once again gotten first dibs, but Facebook’s Director of Mobile Engineering has assured those running Google’s flagship OS that the company will be releasing an Android iteration in the near future.
Although Android is the most popular ecosystem in terms of total reach, developers frequently cater to those on iOS before creating an iteration for Android, and Facebook is no different. A short while ago, two internal Facebook engineers blurted to the New York Times that Facebook for iPhone was about to be overhauled, and was well as ringing the changes, would also be "blazing fast."
Those are two words Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has struggled to associate his mobile ventures with hitherto, but yesterday, the app did reach fruition, and the general response from users and bloggers thus far has been a fairly positive one.
There’s no doubt, due to the fragmented nature of Android, that creating apps compliant with the bunch of different devices available can sometimes be difficult, and while Android users have come to accept a short wait as standard procedure, sometimes it takes months or – in the case of Instagram – years to finally hit the Google Play Store.
With 900 million users – a large chunk of which will be running an Android Smartphone or tablet, Facebook can ill afford to casually cast users aside – particularly having only just managed to do something right in the mobile industry.
The Facebook representative has promised his team will "power" through the challenges Android presents to developers, and although he could not give anxious users an estimated release date, he does believe it will be worth waiting for:
I have been doing software 20 years too long to make estimates in public. Experience and quality determine the time. I am utterly confident that you’ll find it worth the wait.
So, there you have it guys. As Facebook 5.0 changes the game for those on iOS, those on Android will be getting their major revision – just not quite yet.
(via AndroidPolice)
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