Impressions: Facebook v2.0

Since its launch Windows Phone 7 has received the nickname of 'the Facebook phone' and honestly, it's not too far off the mark. While the service isn't totally integrated into Windows Phone as of now, Mango will be changing that and will include major features like support for Facebook notifications, check-in support, contact photos, video uploads, and more. So as Mango approaches closer by the day, we have become increasingly confused as to why the dedicated Facebook app still exists.

Now it appears that Facebook may actually be doing something about it: the popular social networking site released a major version 2.0 update to its official Windows Phone app and it brings along enough to justify the number bump. Toast notifications and live tile support are undeniably the biggest feature adds with this update, but 2.0 also brings along plenty of bug fixes.

To say Facebook sorely needed toast notifications would be an understatement. The app has felt entirely isolated from the rest of the operating system in the past and the People Hub didn't have enough features to use as a dedicated app. Now with version 2.0, toast notifications are here and they work well...really well. As long as you are consistently connected to an internet connection of some kind, you can expect to see your phone keep up to date and fire notifications your way pretty frequently. If you're worried those notifications may be a little too frequent don't fret -- the app lets you set what you want kind of actions you want to receive notice of. There's also a live tile (seen above) which mimics the red button number count in order to keep track of your notifications. In the settings of the app, you can choose either just a Live Tile, just toast notifications, or a combination of both and we really liked having the flexibility available.

So is version 2.0 enough to justify the app's existence? In short, no...but it's really close. Ironically, the one thing holding back Facebook v2.0 is in fact the new APIs that will become available in Mango. We love toast notifications in its current state, but we eagerly await the day when deep links will be included and will jump you directly into what you want to see (i.e. going directly to a photo comment from a toast). Besides push features, Facebook 2.0 includes notable improvements in video streaming and feels much faster and zippier in general. The pinch-to-zoom in the photo viewer still suffers severe lag and the app isn't nearly as fast as the People Hub is, but for now it's undeniable that you need the dedicated app if you plan to do some real social networking and 2.0 makes that pill a lot easier to swallow.

If you already have the app, you should have received an update notification in the Marketplace. If you haven't already tried the app, it's available for free and you can see it for yourself by clicking on the tile below.

Facebook for Windows Phone Microsoft Corporation FREE Version 2.0