XDAFacebook Mango! - Windows Phone 7 General

So.... Just putting the "Teaser" out there to gather some interest.
Devs that are interested send me a PM!
Oh, and seeing as I don't have a WP7 device (yet), what are the current Facebook frustrations so I know where to attack?

The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.

66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last update introduced live tiles and push notifications..

66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS could of made it open an installed Youtube App as they have native code access. Not sure there are API's for this to a Marketplace Developer. Just a thought anyway, I could be wrong.
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?

drkfngthdragnlrd said:
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.

prjkthack said:
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I though so, thanks for the information.

drkfngthdragnlrd said:
I though so, thanks for the information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD

I agree with prjkthack, stay with the Metro UI look. The picture above does not look good for a WP7 app.
Things missing in the current Facebook app...
Can't see who liked status-update/picture, (you can see a few in notification area but not when looking at the actual update/picture)
Can't like Comments to updates/pictures
Annoying...
When looking at a picture you have to press comment button to see/add comments (it switches to a comment view where you don't see the picture anymore), why not show comments directly below the picture?
Everything just loads so slow

Does the current Facebook app from Microsoft have the Places or Check-In feature?

Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...

Well the most annoying thing is not having a seperate fb messaging client.
And i think its better for you not wasting your time on doing a full fb app, but rather make a messaging only app which is quick with push, so people can actually use is since this is missing from the os integration.
However with Mango we can probably pin the fb inbox to our startscreen so this will cancel out the need for a facebook messenger client. And deep linking will add the desired speed to it.
Good luck anyway thank you for the effort, i hope it will come out nice.

nizzon said:
Everything just loads so slow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soooo true ... I use m.facebook.com ..

Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.

One of my biggest annoyances with the Microsoft Facebook app and alot of the apps that have been released is there smoothness and scrolling speed. We have this wonderful smooth and efficient operating system which is plagued by i suppose poorly coded apps that are trying to bite of more then they can chew.
The Facebook as is very sluggish to Navigate which really annoys the **** out of me. Another problem i have noticed is with the tile notifications, when you have a notification it displays on the tile as a number then you click on the facebook and and navigate to notifications, click on the notifications then exit and the counter has not updated. I disabled the push notifications and it still has a stupid number. When you open the app it should assume you have read all the notifications like on fb when click on the notifications button. So if you can manage to fix the notifications and the scrolling speed id be a very happy man.

NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.

Thank you for all of your feedback!
prjkthack said:
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually don't have much experience with WP7 and the Metro UI (other than the emulator). I will be upgrading my WinMo 6.5 to WP7 once my contract runs up, and so hopefully by then I will have more knowledge of what metro looks/feels like.
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PG2G said:
Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm.... I'm curious about this. I would much rather spend my time developing something useful rather than copying integrated features.
Now, I know that on the HD2, HTC added a "Facebook Tab" that did basic stuff, but clicking into any of the different messages launched the m.facebook.com. Is this the same as with Mango?
Also, I know that some people like a consolidated feel when it comes to things like facebook. The integrated features sound great in terms of "Glance and Go", but how are they in regards to general Facebook Browsing? Do you get the full Facebook experience?
I would really like some more information about these comments. If there is no need for a dedicated app, then I won't make it.
Also, I know that Facebook limits what 3rd party devs can do, where as 1st party apps (Like the iOS and Android app) don't have those limits. Examples of this are adding places, sending messages to Inbox, Poking, etc (these CANNOT be done on 3rd party apps!) If the integrated app can do all of those, then there might not be any need to have a limited stand-alone app.
Any feedback about this would be excellent!
N8ter said:
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mail/Messages cannot be sent by 3rd party apps... It is a terrible terrible thing I know. They had enabled it in 2009, but it got abused so they took it away. I've seen apps that work around the limitation, but I haven't found out how.
As for background apps, there is support for background threading in Mango so that should be possible!
Thank you again for all the feedback!

joe_coolish said:
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.

prjkthack said:
That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
So, any thoughts about the usefulness of the app?

I wouldn't personally use it, the FB App itself and Mango has all I need. But competition is good and it'll be nice having more than 1 facebook app in the market.

I think it sounds like a great idea I actually use the FB app when I need to check something. If I need to post something then the integrated is awesome as it posts to twitter to

Related

What if you do not use Facebook or Twitter?

I know it is hard to believe that in this day and age there are people who do not spend half their day refreshing Facebook and Twitter. I personally do not even have an account at Facebook or Twitter or any other social networking site.
This is no problem as long as Facebook access is contained in an app that I can simply not launch. In WP7 however, from what I've seen of it at least, the social networking aspects seem completely unavoidable.
Whenever I go into contacts or people or whatever they are calling it, there will be a whole "What's New" column (Facebook Wall or recent Tweets I guess?) that for me would be blank all the time. Then there is the option to "share" content with others that seems to appear on every other context menu in the OS.
I'll admit my knowledge of WP7 is so far only skin deep. It is just a lot of what I read about it talks about how well integrated it is with social networks.
So does anyone know how far this integration goes? Is it just a few features that can be easily ignored? Or is it so deeply weeded to the OS that it would be constantly in your way and difficult to remove, like IE used to be with Windows.
If it is the later, clearly the best solution would be to not purchase a phone with WP7 on it.
Clearly WP7 has a ton of social integration within the OS but I don't think it's going to be mandatory that you actually use the stuff. They are aiming the device at business as well as entertainment and I know some companies would not want their employees doing facebook on their work phones. I'm sure they've realized this and made it so those features just don't show up when you arent linked to a facebook account.
MooGoo said:
I know it is hard to believe that in this day and age there are people who do not spend half their day refreshing Facebook and Twitter. I personally do not even have an account at Facebook or Twitter or any other social networking site.
This is no problem as long as Facebook access is contained in an app that I can simply not launch. In WP7 however, from what I've seen of it at least, the social networking aspects seem completely unavoidable.
Whenever I go into contacts or people or whatever they are calling it, there will be a whole "What's New" column (Facebook Wall or recent Tweets I guess?) that for me would be blank all the time. Then there is the option to "share" content with others that seems to appear on every other context menu in the OS.
I'll admit my knowledge of WP7 is so far only skin deep. It is just a lot of what I read about it talks about how well integrated it is with social networks.
So does anyone know how far this integration goes? Is it just a few features that can be easily ignored? Or is it so deeply weeded to the OS that it would be constantly in your way and difficult to remove, like IE used to be with Windows.
If it is the later, clearly the best solution would be to not purchase a phone with WP7 on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 with a little difference.
What do people like us do who do have facebook and twitter account but since we are based in china they are completely blocked here. Facebook, twitter, dailymotion, youtube etc are mostly blocked and hence i see the integration in Win 7 not much useful. Though i do think it will offer a lot of uniqueness but for me it would be iphone in the very future when i decide to buy the phone.
+1
I hate face..shi..t and I don't need twitter
but, because I do not have an account on these sites would stop using WM7
sorry for my english.. is english-google.. XD
if you dont have a account then just dont sign in..its not mandatory, just an added feature that you can turn on if you want/need
I don't understand. If you don't use Facebook and Twitter then just... don't use it. What task could you possibly be trying to do that would say"must log in to Facebook to continue"? None
If you don't have Facebook feeds coming in there is nothing to avoid or ignore.. so what's the problem again?
burnblue said:
I don't understand. If you don't use Facebook and Twitter then just... don't use it. What task could you possibly be trying to do that would say"must log in to Facebook to continue"? None
If you don't have Facebook feeds coming in there is nothing to avoid or ignore.. so what's the problem again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure?
In the emulator at least, the column "What's New" is always there. Whether it be right next to the alphabetical list of contacts, or right next to the single contact info screen.
Also, because of the panorama display, you always see part of the next screen to your right. Then there is the fact that it is necessary to pan your way through contiguous screens to get to the one you want (there seems to be no way to skip over intervening screens/tabs).
These are the two main reasons which lead me to believe that this kind of integration is not something that can be simply disabled.
I never setup any Facebook account on the emulator.
Of course I realize that this is beta/alpha software I am dealing with. Hopefully Microsoft will be smart enough to remove social networking related tabs (screens, pages, what are they supposed to be called now?) if the appropriate accounts are not set up.
I don't see why a "share" option in a context menu or a "What's New" tab on a panel can't be shown if a person does not have social networking set up.
Take Sony Ericsson phones for example. MusicNow and stuff like a WAP browser don't simply "disappear" if you don't set it up. It's still there among the options.
Look at Nokia phones. Even if you don't set up an APN for use with internet, the option to click on a link from a SMS to launch a website would still appear. Whether you click on it is up to you.
The option to "share" in WP7 should always be there. Whether you click on it is up to you.
Hemant said:
What do people like us do who do have facebook and twitter account but since we are based in china they are completely blocked here. Facebook, twitter, dailymotion, youtube etc are mostly blocked and hence i see the integration in Win 7 not much useful. Though i do think it will offer a lot of uniqueness but for me it would be iphone in the very future when i decide to buy the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you can use a proxy or VPN service?
MooGoo said:
Are you sure?
In the emulator at least, the column "What's New" is always there. Whether it be right next to the alphabetical list of contacts, or right next to the single contact info screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the whats new maybe if you don't have Facebook/twitter linked it would just show recent SMS under peoples names or emails?
I'm going on the assumption that because the OEM developer documentation says that any OEM included applications 'must work without network/internet connectivity' that the OS will also work this way and there will be options to turn on and off the features.
It may turn out that we need to 'unlock' these features though as so far I've only seen it written in OEM info.
Interesting. Wouldn't that requirement exclude the inclusion of something like a weather application? Or does it just mean that the program would have to have the capability to cache data for offline use if necessary.
Even assuming that 'What's New' doesn't show you emails, SMS and other updates from that contact that have nothing to do with social networks...
you don't have to swipe over there.
With developers' ability to plug in, 'What's New' is at some point going to include some functionality you're interested in. Even if it's empty, that's no reason to disable it
I do hope you are correct about What's New being populated with emails/SMS etc, that would at least make some sense. But if this is not the case, I do not see why I should need to put up with an entirely worthless panel just on the off chance that some carrier may someday decide to put something there that interests me.
And why shouldn't I be able to disable it? If it is not disabled and just left empty as you suggest, I would indeed have to swipe it as the OS does not seem to provide a way to simply jump to the panel you want to see. This is another issue entirely, constantly having to swipe through unwanted content just to get the information you do want will get old very quickly.
MooGoo said:
And why shouldn't I be able to disable it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why shouldn't you be able to multi-task?
Why shouldn't you be able to develop in any language for any API that you want?
Why shouldn't you...

Check out this new twitter app, Beezz

Just found a new Twitter app called Beezz. A few improvements could very well make this app better than the official Twitter app! Check it out, it's free.
It has promise, but it doesn't save state and doesn't support favorites, I use them as bookmarks. It does seem more solid than the official app.
ckacey said:
It has promise, but it doesn't save state and doesn't support favorites, I use them as bookmarks. It does seem more solid than the official app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Main reasons why this app hurts to use as a primary Twitter app. Why do none of the WP7 Twitter apps save your spot in the timeline?
It's probably worth noting that Beezz has a scheduled update for either today or tomorrow which includes push notifications and a live tile.
I like seesmic
Do your direct messages for twitter work in seesmic because mine don't? It also has a tombstone bug when using multiple accounts that's incredibly annoying. Other than that I like it.
blahism said:
I like seesmic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed seesmic, didn't like it, uninstalled it. Like beezz a lot. Waiting for that update that supports live tiles I've been hearing about but have yet to receive.
If there's something that needs live tiles, it's twitter.
Thanks for sharing I have been dying over here without notifications....hopefuly update comes soon and answers prayers. Anyone have anything in the direction of FB? Same issue primarily, no notifications.
I installed the update today, and still not getting any live tile notification of new tweets. I turned the setting for it on, but still no go.
Yeah notifications aren't working for me either. They must be having some server problems at the moment.
Every time I try to turn on the notifications, Beezz throws an error!
Edit: Just tried again and it's all working now! Have promoted this app's tile to right near the top! :O)
How can I allow the application to access my account?
I'm not able to login.
The live tile stopped working.
I uninstalled it again, because live tile support is nice, but at least for me it didn't show a number of unread tweets bigger than 30. No matter what happen, nothing read over night, half a day of not using twitter, 30 has always been the maximum.
furthermore I really like the "quote a tweet" feature of the official one, since wp7 doesn't support c&p. Since that isn't in Beezz I switched back.
Maybe some updates are able to change that.
Does anyone have a .xap file of Beezz ? i'm from holland and the windows phone 7 market isn't available yet. Found a lot of xap files, (inc a beezz.xap, but it didn't work) so i'm looking for a other one.
Greats from holland!
Paatskie said:
Does anyone have a .xap file of Beezz ? i'm from holland and the windows phone 7 market isn't available yet. Found a lot of xap files, (inc a beezz.xap, but it didn't work) so i'm looking for a other one.
Greats from holland!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you brought up a topic that died in December, so you might want to look for something more recent next time.
Secondly, it's easy to access the marketplace from Holland.
First, on your computer, go to 'Configuratiescherm', then 'Klok, taal en regio'. Choose 'Locatie wijzigen', and select 'Verenigde Staten' as your country (this is for Vista/Win7, but should be similar on XP).
Second, change your Live ID's location to the United States or 'Verenigde Staten'.
You can do this by going to Hotmail, opties (top right), meer opties, Accountgegevens, and change it there.
Then, reset your device, link it with your live ID and you can access all disabled services like Voice Commands, Marketplace, Zune, directions in Maps and more.
If it doesn't work, you can also make a new account. If your old one is '[email protected]', you could make your new one '[email protected]'. Make sure the country you select is USA or 'Verenigde Staten'. That's what I did, and it also worked (as long as your computer also has 'Verenigde Staten' as its location in the control panel)
Thanx for the reaction!
Got it all working! Thanx alot dude!
Bedankt
if the developer is online here, so please update this app, because Twitter has changed something with DM's. No there is "Twitter Connection Problem" every time i start the app. So i hope that the author can update it. It's theonly Twitter Client with Tweet Count in the live tile, or does anyone else know's an alternative?
bilbo_b said:
if the developer is online here, so please update this app, because Twitter has changed something with DM's. No there is "Twitter Connection Problem" every time i start the app. So i hope that the author can update it. It's theonly Twitter Client with Tweet Count in the live tile, or does anyone else know's an alternative?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Birdsong & Rowi are both superior apps... I prefer Rowi, it's quick, really quick, and the notifications are reliable... Check it out, @Rowiapp on Twitter
FiyaFleye said:
Birdsong & Rowi are both superior apps... I prefer Rowi, it's quick, really quick, and the notifications are reliable... Check it out, @Rowiapp on Twitter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have installed Rowi now (Trial), but couldnt find anything to set up the Live Tile. My only reason for Beezz are the Live Tile with Tweet Counts. I dont need the Live Tile for DM and such things. Only the pure total Unread Tweet Counts are important for me. But i must say, its very fast this app. Faster than Birdsong or moTweets. I have installed Birdsong also, but i will uninstall it because, there are also no Tweet Count, only a Live Tile for DM.
i don't think the trial of rowi supports live tiles
just buy the full version, you won't be unhappy
edit: actually, I don't think rowi has a live tile count for new tweets

Birdsong Twitter App

y'all need to get birdsong for wp7. This is definitely the most complete twitter app to date.
1. Cache's your timeline so jumping back into twitter is quick.
2. Opens links in its own dedicated browser, so getting back into the app by pressing the back button is instant. The browser is nice, supports pinch to zoom, smooth scrolling, like IE without the address bar. You can open in IE as well but all links I have tested have worked very well.
3. Integrated twit pics, opens them right up in the app.
4. landscape support
5. threaded messaging, which can be useful if you carry on convo's on twitter.
6. Posting pics is as easy as starting a tweet then clicking on the camera soft button at the bottom. Pops it right in very quickly.
So far the only drawback I have heard of is that it doesn't geotag your pics/tweets, but I've never used that anyways. From what I've heard, great way for creeps to be able to know where you are (and where you aren't).
Great video here:
http://wpcentral.com/new-twitter-app-birdsong-first-look-video
I think beezz and seismic might be going away from my phone.
edit: found a little trick if you are towards the bottom of your timeline, tapping "home" at the top ("home" Mentions" "Messages"), brings you back to the top.
just downloaded this app, very nice,
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
btw if you hit "home" it will take you to the top of the timeline
jmerrey said:
just downloaded this app, very nice,
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
btw if you hit "home" it will take you to the top of the timeline
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I just added that to my first post.
I've complained about the timeline thing for a while now. I don't think any of the winmo twitter apps did that as well. Now it just needs live tile integration.
I prefer original Twitter. Has everything needed and actually shows more on screen at once.
It's a nice twitter app and I bought it but list scrolling performance can get really bad at times but it's still better than the others I've tried so far.
doministry said:
I prefer original Twitter. Has everything needed and actually shows more on screen at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Prefer the original too, plus it's confirmed to be working very fast with the upcoming WP7 update.
Peew971 said:
Prefer the original too, plus it's confirmed to be working very fast with the upcoming WP7 update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice to know!
If you must get Birdsong, it got a temporary massive cut price (£0.79 in the UK). I got it as an alternative to the official app just because their next update will include notifications but Twitter remains my favourite so far.
PS: moTweets is out and rubbish. Too bad, that was my favourite twitter app on winmo.
jmerrey said:
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rowi does that. Try rowi, it's an awesome, no-frills Twitter app that just gets straight to the point with a pure Metro UI.
Tried Birdsong, and while it certainly has potential, its very slow to load tweets into the timeline, performance can dive sometimes for no reason, and that timeline counter along the top of the screen just looks really out of place and doesn't match the interface or the Metro UI.
I really wish they'd fix the official Twitter application. It definitely has potential to be awesome as well. Till then, rowi is my Twitter application.
Peew971 said:
PS: moTweets is out and rubbish. Too bad, that was my favourite twitter app on winmo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I loved moTweets on WinMo. Just checked it out here, and its terrible and ugly. It's got some good ideas and potential, but my god it looks like they tried to bring the WinMo look to WP7, which means they have totally missed the point of WP7 and Metro.
It'll be Beezz for me until any of the other clients get push live tile updates. At that time, I'll rate the features and compare.
thesecondsfade said:
It'll be Beezz for me until any of the other clients get push live tile updates. At that time, I'll rate the features and compare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beezz's live tile updates don't work, nor does its toast notifications.
Jim Coleman said:
Beezz's live tile updates don't work, nor does its toast notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works for me. It sometimes stops working, but if you just log out and log back in it starts working again.
The only good WP7 apps that exist are:
1. Games
2. Apps that do not require vertical list scrolling
List scrolling is so bad, that I think WP7 devices should come with Epilepsy warnings. That's how bad it is.
Lists stall, jump, you end up selecting items you never wanted to select, etc.
Also, the Horizontal scrollign needs a threshold to trigger pane switches. If you tap up to scroll up a bit in a list and your finger moves from side to side, it can trigger horizontal pane switches and in some applications that means you lose your place in a list. That's terrible.
I brought BirdSong because it was cheap (0.99). Seesmic's UI is terrible. I don't want to have to tab an icon to go to Twitter. I want an option to take me there automatically. The official Twitter app has terrible performance and poor reaction to taps. Sometimes you have to tap on a link 3-4 times to get it to register - that may just be the application lagging like hell, though...
I prefer the Official App to BirdSong, but at the moment BirdSong outperforms it and is alreasy talking about adding Live Tiles in the next release. Facebook and twitter seem to be extremely slow adding features to their Official Apps unless you're talking about the iOS version.
I've already uninstalled 90% of the third party apps on my phone due to performing issues (list scrolling, painfully slow resuming, Live Tiles that don't work, Ads at the top of the screen - destroying the Metra Look and Feel of the App [And adds on the top on one screen, and on the bottom on the other to try to make you misclick them... i.e. AlphaJax]).
The Marketplace app freezes and crashes all the time, making you have to reboot the entire phone for it to work correctly.
The stock apps perform well, but that probably has a lot to do with Microsoft using Native Code Interop to maximize performance. Third Party applications 85% of the time have performance issues.
Oh, and Board Express... The slowest app I've ever used on any mobile platform. Wish I hadn't paid for that piece of ****.
But on topic... Yes, Birdsong is a good Twitter client. I think the Official Twitter client looks better, but the performance gains using birdsong (Raw Speed, Cached Tweets, Integrated browser so no constant resuming when viewing links, integrated picture viewer) far outweight the deficit.
N8ter said:
The only good WP7 apps that exist are:
1. Games
2. Apps that do not require vertical list scrolling
List scrolling is so bad, that I think WP7 devices should come with Epilepsy warnings. That's how bad it is.
Lists stall, jump, you end up selecting items you never wanted to select, etc.
Also, the Horizontal scrollign needs a threshold to trigger pane switches. If you tap up to scroll up a bit in a list and your finger moves from side to side, it can trigger horizontal pane switches and in some applications that means you lose your place in a list. That's terrible.
I brought BirdSong because it was cheap (0.99). Seesmic's UI is terrible. I don't want to have to tab an icon to go to Twitter. I want an option to take me there automatically. The official Twitter app has terrible performance and poor reaction to taps. Sometimes you have to tap on a link 3-4 times to get it to register - that may just be the application lagging like hell, though...
I prefer the Official App to BirdSong, but at the moment BirdSong outperforms it and is alreasy talking about adding Live Tiles in the next release. Facebook and twitter seem to be extremely slow adding features to their Official Apps unless you're talking about the iOS version.
I've already uninstalled 90% of the third party apps on my phone due to performing issues (list scrolling, painfully slow resuming, Live Tiles that don't work, Ads at the top of the screen - destroying the Metra Look and Feel of the App [And adds on the top on one screen, and on the bottom on the other to try to make you misclick them... i.e. AlphaJax]).
The Marketplace app freezes and crashes all the time, making you have to reboot the entire phone for it to work correctly.
The stock apps perform well, but that probably has a lot to do with Microsoft using Native Code Interop to maximize performance. Third Party applications 85% of the time have performance issues.
Oh, and Board Express... The slowest app I've ever used on any mobile platform. Wish I hadn't paid for that piece of ****.
But on topic... Yes, Birdsong is a good Twitter client. I think the Official Twitter client looks better, but the performance gains using birdsong (Raw Speed, Cached Tweets, Integrated browser so no constant resuming when viewing links, integrated picture viewer) far outweight the deficit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you complaining about scrolling issues here on a Birdsong thread? I have a TMOUS HD7 and have not experienced 1 of the issues you're complaining about. Why don't you just sell your HD7 if you really believe there's nothing good about it other than games? iOS and Android have more games, much of the same games, etc.
Every time I see your username in a thread I'm prepared to read a bunch of complaining. How old are you?
I've bought the latest version from the market, enabled push & tile notification but nothing is working ... am I the only one ?
Read 'Hey Microsoft, what’s up with those Live Tiles?' here:
http://mobilitydigest.com/hey-microsoft-whats-up-with-those-live-tiles/
Sjuust said:
Read 'Hey Microsoft, what’s up with those Live Tiles?' here:
http://mobilitydigest.com/hey-microsoft-whats-up-with-those-live-tiles/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx but I've alread read that article.. endpoints it's not my problem, beacuse other apps tiles are working... birdsong doesn't...
Prefer Motweets pro,I bought it when the price is low.I think it is the twitter app with most features currently.
However,got birdsong free trial in my device too,just seldom use it,because I can't see all the Nearby tweets or locating the people i following.
Furthermore,I found out that some major issues with all current twitter apps in the marketplace.
firstly,when exiting from the built-in browser will bring you into blank screen for at least 2 second.
second,it'll randomly crash, if you scroll through pages when it is loading app.
not sure why these problems occur,maybe it is due to the WP7 developer tool.
I use motweets, birdsong & tweetcaster.. but overall I prefer birdsong with motweets as #2
is there a fix already for birdsong crash when clicking links in mango b2?

Facebook Notifications: Not Getting Any?

So the subject says it all. I'm new to WP7 (not new to tech by any means)... Maybe I missed something obvious but I can't find it.
I had two notifications. But- my phone told me of neither of them by itself. I had to open the app to see them.
We're talking they were a good 45 minutes old, too.
TexUs said:
So the subject says it all. I'm new to WP7 (not new to tech by any means)... Maybe I missed something obvious but I can't find it.
I had two notifications. But- my phone told me of neither of them by itself. I had to open the app to see them.
We're talking they were a good 45 minutes old, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The FB app does not support live tiles and push notifications and neither does the people hub, so yeah u need to open the FB app to check out updates.
You can turn on email notifications in your FB Account. Than you will get an email for New Messages or something Else.
Sent from my HD7 T9292 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
goldenpipes said:
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone does as well but my experience with them has always been sporadic at best
thank a lot of
No .........................................
hjx .....................................
I note on the Facebook for Windows Phone Facebook page, they've promised a new version with "features that [we've] been asking for".
It seems it has gotten delayed, probably owing to the recent messages bug, but maybe - just maybe - this may support notifications through the OS or a live tile?
The notifications issue, along with support for FB chat, seems to be the biggest request on there, so we might be in luck.
Casey
Casey_boy said:
I note on the Facebook for Windows Phone Facebook page, they've promised a new version with "features that [we've] been asking for".
It seems it has gotten delayed, probably owing to the recent messages bug, but maybe - just maybe - this may support notifications through the OS or a live tile?
The notifications issue, along with support for FB chat, seems to be the biggest request on there, so we might be in luck.
Casey
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah the App is definitely gonna support chat, toast notifications and live tiles for sure. Its just a matter of when.
goldenpipes said:
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BB and Android OS have been around for longer than 5 months.
It should be supported natively with the rest of the Facebook features.
Sent using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
DatDereX1 said:
BB and Android OS have been around for longer than 5 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
emigrating said:
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
need I remind you that fb push notifications didn't come till last august on android? Let's be real, android's FB before last summer was a piece of crap compared to the apple platform..and even then there were some bugs till fall of last year...and android's been around since 08...and it still doesn't go without bugs...with toasting or push notifications
I mean i admit the facebook xap is paltry and has a lot of issues in coding which should be corrected but I say give it time
I can't believe that the Microsoft-coded stuff (even Facebook app) wouldn't have Live Tiles or push support. That one surprises me more than anything on WP.
However- I never recall my iPhone not supporting Push and doing it well.
Android was certainly sketchy, even after running 2.3.
Right now my best "solution" seems to be as suggested and setting up email notifications.
emigrating said:
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My point is that this is not a mature OS and I think (hope lol) MS will add that feature in the future. There's a lot of things that could have been added from day one, but MS wanted to focus on the most important features and making sure they work perfectly before implementing them.
TexUs said:
I can't believe that the Microsoft-coded stuff (even Facebook app) wouldn't have Live Tiles or push support. That one surprises me more than anything on WP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really suprising. They didn't even launch with Copy and Paste...
However- I never recall my iPhone not supporting Push and doing it well.
Android was certainly sketchy, even after running 2.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android supports PUSH well. All of Google's services are pushed, and let's get real... Google didn't add C2DM (their PUSH service) until Android 2.2.
Facebook Chat is pushed on Android, and it's as fast as ever. I know because my Vibrant is going off everytime I'm having a Facebook Chat conversation in Widnows Live Messenger/Facebook.com . I also get all of my Facebook Notifications (Posts/Replies/Messages) really fast.
Flory on WP7 has fast Push/Toast/Live Tile notifications, but the application takes so long to load and/or resume that it's virtually useless. Since the first day I've installed it, I've never gotten it to load my contact list for GTalk or Facebook again... So I uninstalled...
I have my Facebook Background Sync interval (Both in the App, and in TouchWiz/SocialHub) set to 12 hours so I know it's not polling, BTW...
Right now my best "solution" seems to be as suggested and setting up email notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest issue I have is that it's clunky, waste data and battery life (downloading emails uses way more battery power than getting a Push Notification) and is simply impractical for people with busy Social Networks. Do you REALLY want 30+ Facebook emails a day? 1 Hour or more less battery life (these smartphones are already working overtime trying to provide decent battery life)? People with low data plans won't want to do that, either...
Also, on other platforms you get to set different Notification Ringtones for Different Applications, which let you know whether or not you need to even bother looking at the phone when something comes in.
Microsoft needs to implement this.
For me, personally, the Push Notifications isn't that big of an issue (Toast), but a Live Ticker on People Tile would be good.
The biggest issue is that People Hub is a gimmick. It's nothing but a glorified RSS feed for social networks. It doesn't support Facebook Messaging or any of that, only posting and replying... That's why if you are a Facebook user you still need the Facebook application installed on your phone. People Hub barely passes for an alternative, if it does at all... It is too functionally thin to be truly useful and the fact that it doesn't update its information in the background makes it not really worth using over the Facebook application which does much more and has a better user experience.
WP7 has really good voice recognition (at least for English) and Bing is good now, so there's hardly a need to open the People Hub when you can just "Call PersonX Mobile/Work/etc." and the phone gets it done faster than you could if you went through the contact list (if it is of factorable length/size). Hell, the other day I just said "Call Pizza Hut" and it got the city right and everything. One less number in my contact list
domineus said:
need I remind you that fb push notifications didn't come till last august on android? Let's be real, android's FB before last summer was a piece of crap compared to the apple platform..and even then there were some bugs till fall of last year...and android's been around since 08...and it still doesn't go without bugs...with toasting or push notifications
I mean i admit the facebook xap is paltry and has a lot of issues in coding which should be corrected but I say give it time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google didn't implement C2DM on Android until FroYo.
Facebook Getting Push on Android in August means they were very fast in implementing it after Google added C2DM, which destroys your argument/excuse/justification.
When you cut through the spin, Facebook was fast as hell at getting Push Notifications to Android, and Launched Facebook chat in that client as well.
I simply don't think they wanted to implement their own Push Solution, with 500+ million users... It't just too much. Better to use a native solution and and allow Android/iOS/WP7/BB users get their stuff pushed through Google/Apple/MS/RIM instead...
DatDereX1 said:
My point is that this is not a mature OS and I think (hope lol) MS will add that feature in the future. There's a lot of things that could have been added from day one, but MS wanted to focus on the most important features and making sure they work perfectly before implementing them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook integration was, according to MS, a very important feature. Since the FB app is a MS commissioned app you would expect them to have taken full advantage of their, so called, killer features.
My point here isn't so much that it's a missing feature but rather that it's a missing feature which has all the necessary building blocks available for use - and they decided not to utilize them.
Maybe I'm wrong but I swear that WeatherBug Live Tile is updating itself. I'm going to consciously not open it and see if it updates again this morning. If this is true: why can't other apps do this?
As far as the people hub, I don't use it much. Alot of it is as I've already said... None of the apps cache data. That sucks. These apps should be able to poll and cache in the background, but they don't. The People Hub is one such app. I might as well use the Facebook app.
I can see the People Hub having some use but as you said, it seems more like a replacement to Facebook... And unless it has the full functionality of the Facebook app, why use it?
I also agree with your statements on Flory. It never loads my contact list. Maybe I'm not patient enough- but it doesn't even matter... If it takes more than 15 seconds to load it, it's useless.
I must say one thing I miss from Custom ROMs... Headphone amp. I listen to a podcast that, when I'm driving 75mph- you can't freaking hear it with the volume on the radio and phone all the way up. On a Custom ROM I had a headphone amp that I was able to crank it up and hear it with plenty of extra volume. I sorely miss this.
A question... How do I voice dial/search? I realize if I go into the search- I can hit the mic button and do it from there. However from the main screen, holding search does nothing. ????????????
Also... On large contact lists, how do I scroll to say, the M's? I cannot figure this out at all. On Android/iPhone you have a alphabet on the right and you slide your finger down it to the letter you want.

Mango Facebook Photos and Wall not Visible

I did the force update to Mango last night and I'm getting some funny behavior for the Facebook integration. For almost every one of my contacts, it works exactly as advertised, but there are two people whose photos I can't see on the phone. It says "There are no pictures of [contact], or this person has chosen not to share pictures with your phone." One of the two even has a blank What's New pivot, when he updates his status all the time. I feel like these are Facebook security issues, but I can't see anything under the Privacy settings that I could suggest they change. Anyone else seeing this?
Privacy Settings > How people bring your info to apps they use > Edit Settings
They have to check those options.
Excellent. I'll have them check.
Adjust the Date!!! A wrong date on the Phone makes trouble with Facebook .
Am having the same issues. Have you figured out what is causing this? any remedies?
a2gti said:
Am having the same issues. Have you figured out what is causing this? any remedies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't makes sense because the contact that I cannot see albums for on the people hub, I can see their albums using the facebook app.
The solution Endeavor posted works. As soon as my friends changed those settings, their pictures and wall posts showed up.
It doesn't makes sense because the contact that I cannot see albums for on the people hub, I can see their albums using the facebook app.
The facebook app is from facebook, so gets special treatment.
I have the same issue. I'm finally since last Monday running the official mango on my omnia7 and except this thing I am also missing few Facebook contacts in the people hub. It looks like its a known issue.
The integration on the phone is considered a 3rd party app, and checks peoples privacy settings (How people bring your info to apps they use). The facebook "app" acts like 1st party and has treatment as you would from the browser.
Personally I hope facebook does away with this stupid privacy setting. If you have access to somebody's info, you should have access to it from a browser, an app ect.
dtboos said:
The integration on the phone is considered a 3rd party app, and checks peoples privacy settings (How people bring your info to apps they use). The facebook "app" acts like 1st party and has treatment as you would from the browser.
Personally I hope facebook does away with this stupid privacy setting. If you have access to somebody's info, you should have access to it from a browser, an app ect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes or alternatively I wish MS would use some of their clout (I think they have serious $$$ invested in FB) and get WP7 to be recognized as 1st-party instead of 3rd party. THAT would be a serious differentiator IMO, and would fully realize the potential of FB integration.
-R

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