Facebook Beta for webOS gets notifications! 143
Palm's dynamic developer relations duo - Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith - have dropped a new Beta Facebook App for webOS into the Palm Beta Apps Feed. It brings the main feature we've been missing: notifications!
With the 1.1.2 update, the feature comes at you in two ways. First, in the interface itself the upper-lefthand button has been switch from a persistent "Update Status" button to a button that's badged with how many notifications you've missed and opens a drop down to see all your recent notifications. As somebody who isn't constantly updating his Facebook status, this is a welcome change.
Second - background notifications! Right now it will show your most recent notification, but we're told that flipping through notifications and even responding to friend requests right there in the dashboard are features they're looking at. The notifications work by polling Facebook in the background, but we're still waiting / hoping that Palm will get their Mojo Messaging Service / Push Notifications off the ground in the near future.
A few more fixed are in store as well:
- Keyboard shortcuts now use our native "gesture area + key" support which includes a drop down "Navigate to...." area.
- Formatting of content has been fixed (blank lines separating content)
- No HTML tags in Inbox (no more
) - If you launch the Facebook app when already running, refresh the feed a la Tweed
Grab it now by clicking the download link you'll find right here: Beta Facebook App for webOS.
read Palm Developer Blog
143 Comments
ohh yeahh
"ohh yeahh"! but too much errors :-)
-1
It's a "beta". If you don't know what that means, look it up.
ohh yeahh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjacMS7Siqw
"It brings the main feature we've been missing: notifications!"
Really? More than Chat? (Which we have a patch for now, I know)
How about the ability to cut and paste text from FB Messages, too.
FB's chat sucks anyhow. And it's not like you don't already have 4 other chat options, how many chats do you really need?
Really?
The only chat that matters is the one that has your friends on the other side. If you have seven different chat clients and your friends are on the eighth, it really doesn't matter if the client sucks. (Which FB chat does )
I believe more of your friends will be on Facebook than any other chat option.
Don't believe me? See for yourself.
I have checked. My friends prefer gchat or AIM. The only FB friends I have who use FB chat regularly are my teenage cousins since they're the only ones who essentially live on FB.
You could always make it work with chat yourself.
I would def say notifications were a more important inclusion than chat. Besides I got a feeilin FBchat is gonna be added to the OS via a webOS update so that it can be included in the messaging app.
@frett,
How about being a little patient? Not everyone needs to agree on what's more important from a Facebook app. Most people have already voices their incessant need for Facebook notifications and chat functionality and it makes sense they added notifications first because IT IS more important!
These have vastly improved what used to be a pathetic Facebook app not that long ago and they already added another feature users have asked for since their last update. Have some bloody faith!
ohh yeahh
Quinto!
This app is looking better and better everyday!
AppScoop has 1.1.2 listed but wont it wont download it.
Its now available in AppScoop.
i cant get it to dl either. It just gives me the same old beta.
Yup, same old beta can't wait for this new version.
just downloaded,,this is now,in my opinion,,the greatest fb app ever made. Love it. Thanks for making such a complete fb app. This is now the one and only I will use. Just deleted friendsbook.
I agree and love the updates...now I just need to figure out how too make Facebook on my Pre stop showing Mafia and Farmtown requests that I've already blocked in my profile on the real website???
Either way, thanks and keep up the great work. Sorli...
Agreed! Farmtown... sigh...
is there a way that stupid farmville and mafia posts never even show up? I don't care if some of my friends with crappy jobs play games all day!
go to the main fb site and go to your list of updates and click block application on the ones you don't want
If you already have the old beta installed, just tap on the shopping bag in the App Catalog and do install all updates.
As for background notifications, it's a little unclear to me. Does the card still have to be open for the notifications to come in, or does it work if you close out of it as well?
i just got a notifier with the card closed, but when i clicked it, it's just loading forever.
same here, the news feed won't load.
I think I have a related problem. I can get/see the notifications but I'm not able to get the newsfeed to load or any other pages.
However, this started happening with Beta 1 but only in the last few days.
the update will show in prewares beta update feed too.
ananimus likes this.
it seems to be struggling to load the picture/name in comments view.
i know this is beta and all...
i found a bug: (just want to help)
in the inbox, when i try to send a message, i try to select from my contacts, it seems buggy that i cannot just tap outside the selection to continue on with the message...
BUT this is a great beta! :D
EDIT: found another one... cannot seem to tap from notifications to go where that notification is all about...
closed FBB, opened and closed FB, then opened FBB. Now notification links work for me. Maybe I just had to restart.
The notification link won't work if it's a photo. I also wish it would put a gray box around the link when you click it, just so you know it is responding. That half second delay makes me think I missed the link.
I love that we are getting new updates and that the devs are listening. I am not complaining or criticizing, merely informing and questioning:
1. I agree that we can't get to comments about our photos from the notification tab.
2. How do we clear old notifications. Mine popped up with 120-some notications. As far as I can tell, I either have to read each one (not an option) or just ignore the red number popping up. How about a choice to refres/delete old notifications?
3. Replies to comments are still showing up as 'Facebook user' without a photo...even after uninstall/re-install.
Help.
wow! Time to finally delete Friendsflow!
What I been waiting for. Now next people going to be complaining for chat..
Yeah, I dont really care about the chat, notifications are all I wanted and now I'm happy.
So peculiar. I had a weird feeling I should go check out PreCentral just in case there was an update to Facebook...
Who would have thought?!
This to me is the best facebook app ever. I could care less about chat.
I actually thought the same until I started chatting via ebuddy on my Nexus One. If you have a lot of friends and family, some of whom are overseas, the chat feature comes in very handy.
+1. SOO glad notifications are here. Great turnaround time, too. Thanks Devs!
If you have a notification that says "Alice commented on her photo", if you click photo it doesn't work. It seems to work fine if the comment was on a wall post.
Does the Facebook App still automatically import your contacts into your Pre's phonebook, a la Sync? That's the one thing I don't want to deal with.
You can turn that off easily. Just go into contacts and remove the account. Done and done.
And doing that doesn't affect the facebook account at all?
Nope. You're removing a "contact account", not removing the whole account from your phone.
Who uses the contacts app on the Pre? You just start typing someone's name and it comes up. I love having the facebook profile pictures come up when someone calls me.
People who add random people or someone that their friend once saw while kayaking on Spring Break probably don't like it.
Luckily, I'm not one of those people
it really doesn't bother me since the Universal Search renders the contacts app useless..
Say you're trying to find a friend using Universal search. Say your friend's name is a common name, like John. You don't remember his last name because you haven't talked to him in a while.
20+ John's pop up from your Facebook account. Might as well have used the contacts app, eh?
That's just what I don't want to deal with. But since I can delete it apparently, not a big deal.
You failed to describe why the contacts app would be better. Either way you have to scroll through 20+ people named John...
I wasn't saying the contacts app is better, I'm saying it has the same/equal amount of use that a universal search does as far as functioning as a "person-finder." My original comment was about having to deal with my contacts having an extra imported list from my Facebook account. In response to that, it was made known that this isn't an issue anyone should worry about because "Universal Search renders the contacts app useless". By providing an example of having to scroll through 20+ Johns, the contact app is equally as useless as Universal Search if a Facebook account has an imported list of contacts.
Basically, having the extra account will still get in the way, whether you use Universal search or the contacts app.
Also, this argument is moot because the Facebook account can be deleted from contacts anyway. Carry on.
ok I see ur point we should be able to choose which FB friends sync to our phone, but issues like this are rare i'm sure.
but like you said, you can delete from contacts.
Right, I just wish the app wouldn't "auto-sync" for us. I'd rather it give us an option to do so at first installation to avoid any hassle (lol the hassle of canceling an account from contacts?).
A hassle? It's 6 touches, including starting the launcher. Talk about lazy...
Sweet, bring on the good stuff Palm, people will notice them! :D
Shake to reload doesnt work anymore :(
Also everytime you leave the app it refreshes.. (which I hated in the broswer)
Yes i don't like it neither. They should either disable auto refresh, or put an optional off switch. Same thing for the browser -.-
...this app is even better with the 800 MHz patch
I was so excited for this and mine just keeps hanging as well. Waiting to see if the background notifications pop up still. Any suggestions to fix the hanging?
When I look at the comments people made about someones status, all the users show up as "Facebook User" rather than the actual user who posted the comments (works fine in the non-beta version).
Noticed the same thing about the Facebook User in the comments I hope they fix this soon!
+2
yes, same thing happening here
Ditto, although FB shows the name properly to everyone else when you post.
haven't tried the beta yet but I don't understand people complaining about chat... I've been able to chat on my pre using the "full" facebook website this whole time
Woot!! Awwwww yeah!! Dats what I'm talkin' bout!!
So how do you get notifications to pop up in the dashboard? Or did I misread and that's a future feature?
@killroy...my beta does the same thing
@killroy...my beta does the same thing
Now they just have to get the Top News/News Feed option in there. I'm tired of getting updates of people playing with farmville and weird pets.
Also, they need to find a way to get the facebook inbox into the mail app... that'd be sweet.
its not in my app catalog!
Great step in the right direction! I am hanging on to FriendsFlow for now though!! LOVE that FB Beta allows you to watch uploaded videos, even before the MUCH anticipated addition of Flash. I LOVE FriendsFlow's handling of notifications!! It tell you how many you have. You click it. It shows you the ACTUAL posts. If you are unclear what it was in response to, you click the notification and it takes you to the post thread. Then you SWIPE to mark as read, which is cool because it is a NATIVE webOS gesture. Would be GREAT if Facebook For Palm Beta could figure out a system for notifications like this. GREAT JOB SO FAR THOUGH GUYS!!! :-)
Great step in the right direction! I am hanging on to FriendsFlow for now though!! LOVE that FB Beta allows you to watch uploaded videos, even before the MUCH anticipated addition of Flash. I LOVE FriendsFlow's handling of notifications!! It tell you how many you have. You click it. It shows you the ACTUAL posts. If you are unclear what it was in response to, you click the notification and it takes you to the post thread. Then you SWIPE to mark as read, which is cool because it is a NATIVE webOS gesture. Would be GREAT if Facebook For Palm Beta could figure out a system for notifications like this. GREAT JOB SO FAR THOUGH GUYS!!! :-)
Wow! That's great! It's good to see Palm working hard on features we really want in our daily lives. I mean, who needs a smart phone with direct microphone access for voice dialling anyway.
sigh. What a waste of tallent...
M.
Not me. Never used voice dialing and I expect I never will.
K this is great,
needs 1 more things though
1. I want facebook to be able to run in the background or atleast when someone writes to me I want a webos notification.
that's exactly what this update does. It doesn't 'push' automatically,but it polls in the background and lets you know what's going on.
with the option to turn it off ofcourse
ZOMAIGOOODD!!!
hey guys. When i click on a notification where someone commented on a photo, it doesn't work. But if i click on another non photo notification comment, it works.
Thanx for the update and the info Dieter! Loving the fact that they are regularly updating the BETA... oh yeah, it's a BETA people! Relax! Changes and updates are in the works so be patient!
come on buddy :) we are just giving feedback here.
Some give feedback or constructive criticism , others simply complain within three seconds that their choice of features wasn't added and mention nothing else about how the app was just upgraded.... and really, those people I find pathetic.
well now that IS true.
great update i love it!! how exactly does the notifications work though im not getting any
great update i love it!! how exactly does the notifications work though im not getting any
Works a bit better than the last update .... Now I get notifications icon up top.... Too bad the main news feed still does not load .... Just spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins andspins and spins and spins and spins and spins and ... Get it !!!!!!!!
Good ....
FIX IT !!!!!!!!!!!!! Pr? please?
Uninstall and reinstall fixed notifications not loading problem... at least on mine.
Hi guys,
Thanks for beta testing this for us and finding some issues.
- shaking issue fixed
- "Facebook User" issue fixed
We will get a new beta out, probably on Monday as we look at other things that come up too.
Cheers,
Dion Almaer
Palm Developer Relations / part of the FB team
thanks for all your hard work! You 2 are quite the Dynamic Duo. Go Developers! Go PALM!
You guys are badass :)
Looks great, but the "Facebook User" issue is NOT fixed.
I read Monday it will be updated.
You guys are great! It's nice to be able to see and use the future of Palm. Thanks for working so fast.
Really great work guys, i've been eager to delete the FB link from my browser and now it is officially gone.
It eans a lot to us WebOS enthusiasts that you not only frequent the site, but that you really listen!
hey dion its broken. I cant send messagese. If I select a name it messes up. Please fix that ASAP =)
anybody else seeing facebook user in place of names and have a constantly refreshing notifications?
update. When I rebooted phone notifications worked temporarily but gets stuck refreshing notifications, additional posts, etc
@Dion Almaer - thanks for working so quickly and hard on getting to the BETA problems so fast! You guys rock! Make me love my Pixi more and more all the time.
it's great to see progress on this app, and especially great to see devs from palm on precentral, I know I'm not the only one who appreciates that :) I believe that's important because this site is where alot of people chim in about bugs, and missing features. As far as this fb app goes can't seem to get notifications to work. Also would like the option wen uploading pics, to choose album.
it's great to see progress on this app, and especially great to see devs from palm on precentral, I know I'm not the only one who appreciates that :) I believe that's important because this site is where alot of people chim in about bugs, and missing features. As far as this fb app goes can't seem to get notifications to work. Also would like the option wen uploading pics, to choose album.
Looking forward to testing this out! I agree with rexalbel, good to see work being done to improve apps and that developers are sticking with it.
Notifications not working on my GSM Pre..... Anyone knows how to fix this?
works es well, but it's beta ! :-)
Just installed. Much better :)
i think just in us n i m in uk n it doesn't show in app catalog
I can't believe how amazing the WebOS community is. Developers coming into the blog and responding to feedback in the Blog... WOW
this new update just got me thinking about a new commercial.
(close up on hologram that shows the pre screen ala the never miss a thing campaign)
(a guy is updating his blog via the app "Poster")
guy: so i'm playing this other 3d game, (flashback, now shows direct feed of pre screen) modern combat on my Palm Pre, when I get a facebook message from Dave, my sworn modern combat enemy
(shows unintrusive facebook, he taps the notification, game pauses, goes to message from Dave)
guy: the message read 'i'm ready for our rematch you won't be so lucky this time'
(shows guy open Modern Combat , then connect Dave to begin a match. Show more gameplay)
guy: he wasn't ready
announcer: the Palm Pre offers 3d gaming, social networking, and multitasking, you'll never miss a thing. Palm WebOS
I absolutely love the new update the only issue im having is it seems to constantly check facebook posts and what i was wondering is if theres anyway to cut that back to like 6 - 12 hours because im concerned that its killing the battery.. anyone have an ideas?
My Issues
saturday
facebook user still in comments
seems to take longer then FB to load
notifications don't refresh after I look at it. Number stays at 4 doesn't go to 3.
thanks for a great beta.
but I'm wondering. I want people to have a weekend break like I get. But why release a beta on a friday if you can't fix it till monday.? Should make it a thursday then try your best to fix in on a friday. I think that would make user feel like you Palm are on the ball
my 2cents.
great work. GO Palm GO
Huh? betas are test versions of unfinished code. Bugs are expected. for a developer to release a beta version one day, than another 2 days later is unheard of. As Beta testers we're supposed to find the bugs and report them, not give the devs ridiculous time tables (one day, really?)
That's what I thought. 2 days wow. I'm guessing they are fixing the bugs on the surface so people can dig to find the deep bugs they wouldn't know about otherwise.
My Issues
saturday
facebook user still in comments
seems to take longer then FB to load
notifications don't refresh after I look at it. Number stays at 4 doesn't go to 3.
thanks for a great beta.
but I'm wondering. I want people to have a weekend break like I get. But why release a beta on a friday if you can't fix it till monday.? Should make it a thursday then try your best to fix in on a friday. I think that would make user feel like you Palm are on the ball
my 2cents.
great work. GO Palm GO
The Notify keeps hanging, I deleted my account and re entered my login details again. This seems to have fixed he problem for now but am sure it will happen again. I guess time will tell.
@Greyfox am in the uk as well, just download appscoop from the app store than download the facebook app via app scoop.
can't click on photo comments in notifications
While I am happy about the notifications, I'll just hang out till the app comes out of BETA and it has been tested by everybody else. :)
It shows up as a separate app, so you can try it out and still use your trusted non-notification Facebook. It doesn't erase your Facebook you use.
Very promising beta. Keep up the good work
mines works, it just appears to take a really really really long time to give me a notification . I guess patience is key with this update
Is there an official forum for bugs?
I eagerly installed the new beta this morning and promptly uninstalled it. My reasons have already been set forth elsewhere in the comments:
1. WebOS integration doesn't work very well. I would receive notifications but clicking on them didn't take me to the comment, wall post, etc.
2. Facebook User appears whenever someone leaves a comment.
3. Notifications do not refresh. Even with exceptional 3G reception I could not get the notifications to refresh.
4. Users cannot delete notifications once they've been viewed.
Yeah, several of the problems all seem to revolve around getting trapped in "refresh" loops without updating the screen. Often I find if I close then reopen the app, the pages all snap right up listing users correct and everything.
And yeah, the links from notifications not working kinda stinks. I do like the notifications assuming they don't tank my battery though.
I'm not getting background notifications. What gives?
I don't get notification period... it just gets stuck on loading...
Close, pause, then reopen? Does it work then?
ahhh, the joys of beta
Needs to get rid of the "Notify" button from the 6-Box (only name I could think of)
Having 7 boxes makes it look out of place, should stay 6.
Hear, hear!
since they didn't center the seventh item, it looks to me like they have more planned..
I should say that 7 may look ugly, but 9 certainly wouldn't
notifications arent working..its just stuck on refreshing for me all the time
I get the same results on mine, the notifications are stuck in refreshing mode, with the spinner going round and round. This happens if I go to the icon on the top left, or through the menu on the top right (sub menu, notifications). I even tried deleting and reloading the beta. Was able to get it to work after a reboot of the phone. But then same thing happened after I stopped the app, and restarted.
After using it for a good 12 hours, I like it, but I would like the notification icon to be mono-color and not the big blue FB icons, as if tis' white it would really fit nicely into the email, sms, etc. icons.
man this is a great app,,best fb app ever. One thing I would kindly suggest is the ability to turn off the dashboard alerts. Great app,,thankyou .
stil buggy. Gets stuck reloading. Need to be able to turn off web-os notifications (is that a battery drain?) even if app closed. Also I like friendsbook's method of swipe-to-delete notifications.
UPDATE: Gonna remove for now. Is the notifications in background feature a battery drain (vs. teh 800 mhz patch I installed 2 days ago). Friendsbook is free and pretty decent.
"has been switch from" - switched
"A few more fixed are in store as well" - fixes
*sigh*
Love the new BETA...same bugs as everyone else and a new one. I actually get the dashboard notifications...though they come in after an email notification from FB...but there is no alert sound happening...I thought I was just missing it, but I watched one come in, and no noise. It there a way to set that? If not, can there be one? :-)
Aside from the bugs, I would LOVE to be able to choose which notifications I get. Or, at the very least, know which ones are coming in so I can stop getting emails for them and get emails for the other ones. As it is, I don't know what's built in to the WebOS notifications so I don't want to mess with my settings.
P.S. For those of you not getting notifications, reboot your phone. That solved the problem for me.
App really needs work but it's a BETA so it's headed in the right direction. Still very buggy...
you know what'd be cool, and hear me out, if we could set our background notifications to:
1. set personal ringtone/vibration
2. turn notifications on and off
3. choose which notifications to get (likes, comments, wall posts, etc)
4. have them set to either push constantly, or just refresh every -insert time here-
also, fb chat would be cool, but itd be better if it were in the messaging app, rather than the facebook app, itself.
so come on, palm, get those licenses!
all in all, im very happy to say that you guys have released two beta modes of the fb app, at the mercy of annoying beta tester comments, and are contuining development for webOS. this makes for a happy me :)
Hey I'm building a beta for a website right now in Iweb. But there are things I don't know how to do, I know basic html and javascript. and I want a better website maker then iweb cause it seems it cant do what I want I am on a mac and have no windows access.
but things I want on the site but cant find/program:
A facebook/gmail style chat I know there is one on webs but i dont like webs and dont want to use it
A scrolly video thing kind of like at screwattack.com or tgwtg.com where the videos are all scrolly and what not
really cheap .com domain name buy
Please help >.Advanced Cleanse
@cmilette - there is a patch to chat on FB through the messaging app :-) Check it out under messaging on preware! Haven't used it, but sounds cool
If you're having trouble with it hanging forever on notification updates, try this (seems to have worked for me):
1) In the FB app, go to Prefs & Accounts, tap on your account, and 'Remove Account'.
2) Close the app, then opt-tap on it in the launcher and 'Delete' the app.
3) RESTART THE PHONE (this step seems to be important).
4) Reinstall the app and re-connect with your username and password.
Since I went through these steps, it seems to be working a LOT smoother... no more 'updating notifications' forever.