Friendly Social Browser

Update: I don’t know how many years I’ve been using this but it just keeps getting better. Not only that, but I filed a bug report last night, and within hours had a response. And less than 24 hours later, it is already fixed. Spend the two bucks to get the pro version or to upgrade this version. It's worth the cost. I switched to this app because of how bloated Facebook's app had become, both in size and features. So far, I am pleased. There are some issues with the app but there have been two bug fix releases since I started using it two weeks ago, and the app continues to get better. While I have some concerns with the effects of ad blockers on the information economy, I very much appreciate the ad blocker in the app. Especially when visiting sites that use ads in an abusive manner.

I loved the Friendly App. I’ve used it exclusively since it first came out, way back in 2010 or 2011. I told everyone about it. I tried the official Facebook app many times but I always delete it and returned to Friendly. I liked that the news feed stayed on Most Recent and it was easy to navigate. I like that I can personalize it by color and add other social media accounts. But this most recent update is awful. I used to be able to click a link and it would take me to Safari. Now, it doesn’t take me to Safari- I have to copy the link, exit Friendly, then go to Safari and paste and go. Trying to go back to the news feed after going to someone’s post and thread doesn’t always go back to the news feed, or it takes me so far such as back to the top of the feed. After checking notifications, I get stuck there and can’t get back to the newsfeed. There are just so many things wrong with this and I’m so disappointed. There’s a saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I definitely will not be downloading the official Facebook app, and I’m ready to delete this one. It was a nice run, but your updated look is not better than before.

This app is a fine substitute if you just want to get Facebook off your phone, but it definitely has its flaws. There's no way to upload photos into people's comment sections. I always have to go to Facebook's mobile site and do it there. There is also no way to upload video from your phone to Facebook, I'm not sure if they'll be able to fix that, but it would be nice. The ads can be a little annoying but it's what you'd expect. If you are planning on also using this for Instagram, forget about it. Just keep the instagram app because the Friendly version is terrible. While the photo filters do work, the editing tools do not show up at all- it's just a blank empty space where they should be. I've updated this app several times and it's never been fixed, I think they only care about the Facebook portion of it. There is also NO way to receive direct messages from Instagram- I just found out today that people had been messaging me months ago and I never knew about it. Twitter seems to work fine on here, I haven't noticed any problems, but I also don't use it as much. The app periodically cleans itself which is good, and while it's nice to have everything in one place, just keep in mind that their main focus is Facebook so if you have other social media you might be better off keeping the original apps for those.