Facebook iPad app sparks drama

by Stephanie Medeiros (Guest Contributor/Digital Journalist)

An official app for Facebook on the iPad has been long awaited, and it seems it was accidentally discovered around two months ago. However, the app might finally be released.

It was recently discovered the former developer of the iPad app for Facebook brought the iPad version to near completion and it has been ready for release since May, but was delayed all through summer by Facebook.

In fact, tech blog TechCrunch found the app embedded in lines of code for the iPhone app.TechCrunch reports on the issue, as the former developer expressed his side of the story on his blog. The developer, Jeff Verkoeyen, eventually left Facebook for Google but claims it was unrelated to the delays with the app.

“It is now nearly 5 months since the app was feature complete and I haven’t seen it released except for when the project was leaked on Techcrunch,” writes Verkoeyen on his blog. “Needless to say this was a frustrating experience for me.”

It has been reported that Verkoeyen worked on the iPad app tirelessly, clocking in even 80-hour work weeks.However, Verkoeyen reached out to TechCrunch and explained he was not complaining about the long work hours or the delays, since he enjoyed his time with Facebook. Instead, he mentions that the iPad app is still being worked on and is not completely ready to be released.

While Google and Facebook seem to have sizable competition between them, most of the delay seems to stem from the competition between Apple and Facebook, according to TechCrunch.Apple’s relatively low-key music centric social network, Ping, was originally going to integrate with Facebook until Apple decided to cut off the project from Facebook.

Also, in another strain on the Apple-Facebook relationship, Apple instead went with Twitter with full integration in iOS 5.Regardless, Verkoeyen confirmed that the app is still being worked on and even Mashable saysit has confirmed that the iPad app will be launched on October 4, which is reported to be the launch conference for the long-awaited iPhone 5.

Despite the competition between Apple and Facebook and an unfavorable past, the two tech giants seem to be taking strides in order to work together on an HTML-5 initiative as well as releasing the iPad app.

When the iPad was first released, Mark Zuckerberg was infamously quoted in November 2010 that the iPad was “not mobile,” but instead a computer, which spurred much buzz that Zuckerberg wouldn’t be releasing any official Facebook app on the popular tablet.

This article originally appeared on Digital Journal [Link]

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia