Facebook Home has clocked 500,000 downloads of the app via the Google Play Store. Considering that the Home app is currently only available for limited range of phones, mostly high end, it is nearly safe to say that Facebook managed to generate the kind of excitement and user interest it had wanted. However, the poor ratings from people who have downloaded Facebook Home just keep pouring in. As we speak, the overall rating for Facebook Home stands at 2 stars out of 5.
”So I downloaded the app, and within 10 minutes of downloading, I uninstalled. Was not impressed by this app at all. Might be nice for some people, but not me”, wrote Amanda Hiett, who had downloaded this on the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Brian Bucsko points out another problem, “Kills my battery on my galaxy note 2. 🙂 ITS COOL but I need my phones battery to last the day.”
Some users are taking a diplomatic line. Demir Bracic says, “I think Facebook is on the right track but to me this would be better served as a live wallpaper. If I wanted a phone with no widgets and customization I would have bought an iPhone.” Nathan Watrous, meanwhile, summarizes the problem most people have with Facebook Home, “I tried it, and to be honest, it just was too much. I would like it better if it was just the lock screen, but it gets annoying. Plus, it hid most of my other apps (namely google ones lol).”
Frankly, 500,000 doesn’t seem like a huge number when compared with the relevant figures. Facebook currently has an estimated 1 billion users. Facebook’s full-fledged app has been downloaded upwards of 100 million. Same for Facebook Messenger and Instagram. While the numbers for Facebook Home will increase as it eventually becomes compatible with more phones, but the poor user reviews should be worrying. Hopefully, the promised monthly updates will iron out issues that users are pointing out.
Download Facebook Home from here.