Since Facebook’s arrival as a public corporation, there have been various rumours of innovative products and hardware in the works, from the social media giant, that may help push their stock prices up.
Earlier this year, we were introduced not only to an application called ‘Facebook Home’, but also a smartphone by HTC, the ‘HTC First’ that came with a built in Facebook Home application.
The Facebook Home concept, only available on compatible Android based devices, integrates the user’s Facebook profile into the OS of the device itself, cutting out the need for a standalone Facebook application.
Photo and news feeds run in the background like a moving wallpaper while all messages, whether Facebook-based or not, are handled like the Facebook style inbox and notifications come through via the Facebook method for all applications.
However, since the application was introduced earlier this year, it has garnered over 200 000 1-star reviews, with the majority of the comments stating that the use of Facebook Home had started slowing down their devices, confusing their user interfaces and needlessly running down the battery life, while the standalone Facebook application performs all the tasks that Home does, and is much more pleasant to use.
Facebook Home is now standing at number 338 in the Google Play store, and is a prime example of why it is not always a good idea for companies to diversify their product.
The Facebook application is popular with Smartphone users because it gives them the choice to ignore Facebook for as long as they want to, but Facebook Home seems to be the Operating System that simply won’t let you forget that it’s there.
The idea hasn't taken off, and even with updates, bug fixes and feature additions, many Facebook users are uncomfortable with allowing Facebook to dominate that much of their communication experience.
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