Facebook

Description of App

Explore, connect and share your interests with real people. Whether you’re looking for a spark of inspiration with reels or want to dive deeper into something you already love with Marketplace or in groups, you can discover ideas, experiences and people that fuel your interests and help you make progress on the things that matter to you on Facebook.

Explore and expand your interests

  • Shop for affordable and uncommon stuff on Marketplace and take your hobbies to the next level

  • Personalize your Feed to see more of what you like, less of what you don’t

  • Watch reels for quick entertainment that sparks inspiration

  • Discover creators, small businesses and communities who can help you dive deeper into the things you care about

Connect with people and communities

  • Join groups to learn tips and tricks from real people who’ve been there, done that

  • Catch up with friends, family and influencers through Feed and stories

  • Share the things that matter to you with easy in-app access to your Messenger chats

Share your world

  • Effortlessly create reels from trending templates, or let your creativity shine with a full suite of editing tools

  • Customize your profile to choose how you show up and who you share your posts with

  • Turn your hobby into a side hustle by becoming a creator or selling things on Marketplace

  • Celebrate everyday, candid moments with stories, which disappear in 24 hours

Version

402.0.0

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

No

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

17.2

Accessibility Comments

This app is mostly accessible with VoiceOver.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some minor accessibility issues with this app, but they are easy to deal with.

Developer's Twitter Username

@fbaccess

Recommendations

19 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Michael Hansen 6 months 1 week ago

Options

Comments

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Well, a brand new major release by Facebook. We have all been ready for this. It has arrived! So, I can say it is better! The Newsfeed is much better! Move over VoiceBook! You have a new competition now. Just double tap on the newsfeed and you can read all comments very easy along with liking is easy and swift. There are still come quirks in it. I haven't really had the time to really dive in to it to get a really feeling on it yet. So I am curious what you all have found and what you don't and do like? For some odd reason I'm only seeing 15 past newsfeed and nothing pass this. Not sure if there is something I'm missing but again I just got this. There are still some things that isn't so hot but I will have to say it is a major step forward. The real question will they keep it that way? What's New in Version 5.0 We've rebuilt the app so it’s faster and easier to use. * Scrolling through news feed is faster than ever * New banner lets you tap to quickly see more stories – no need to refresh * Photos open fast and close with one downward swipe * Instant access to your notifications

By Kevan on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by AnonyMouse

It's great. I've just uninstalled Focus and moved over to this app. I like it, except I can't find a button to get home quickly to my news feed. There is a strangely labeled back button at the top, though. Also I'd like to see the ability to get to profiles from other users' status updates. Currently don't know if it's possible.

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
The Newsfeeds, Messages, Notifications, Nearby Events have really improved. However, the Pages, Groups, Friends have not. Matter of fact when I go in to my friends I get nothing but clicks. So it doesn't annouce the Friend name. I'm a still bit confused on the News Story and what is being displayed in the Newsfeed. I'm not seeing everything. Now back in the Menu page I have the set of friends that I can select such as Family, Acquaintances, and most recent will show things I don't see in my Newsfeed. So any advice would be great on how the Newsfeed works?

By Daniel on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

That strangely labeled button at the top left is the back button, and that also functions as the button to take you back to the home screen, so to speak, where you can find your messages, news feed, friends, etc. Kepe in mind, the button text will change depending on where you are in the app, it might say nav arrow button, or launch button button. It's quirky, but sooooo much better than any previous efferts.

By Kevan on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by AnonyMouse

For me, the news feed works okay. Stories are displayed, I can click them and like / comment. The "sort" feature might be useful, however the app crashes when I change it.

By AJ M on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

I'm really impressed by this version of the app. I figure I'll use it more now than I have in a while, since version 3.0. I love how your notifications tell you what the notification is instead of just the name of the person it's from, (again, like version 3). Besides not being able to browse the friends list and a few other smaller things, this app works just fine. The friends list should be fixed soon, hopefully. Someone should post the email to send messages about accessibility so we can try to speed up the process.

I downloaded the latest version to my ipad. As per those aboveme, I found only clicks in the friends list. It is my guess they have incorporated their chat feature in to that screen. I can no longer find it on the menu. I did find the button to report a bug. I briefly explained that we as visually impaired users no longer hear the text of our friends names. It is also no longer a list view. It is a grid view emphasizing photos. I hope they fix it. I use chat on facebook quite a lot from my phone. Does anyone know if by expressing my issue in the report a bug field whether it gets to the developer or straight to someone in customer care, if they have such a thing.

I too am having problems with the news feed only displaying 15 or so items. Interestingly, I am also seeing a network error at the bottom of the news feed. Has anyone found a fix for this?

By cjsims on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

I thought that I would advise the following. using the current version of Facebook, I've been able to like, and comment with no issue at all. A friend has made a Facebook post all about the possible accessibility issues with the new app. This is able to be found by searching for the lonsdale media page on Facebook. It is a very good review, and worth a read.

By ming on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

yes friend slist is not readable in voice over. hope it can be fixed very soon.

By Bryan Jones on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

Here are the initial bugs or undesirable features I've encountered in the News Feed section of the FB 5 App running on my non-JB ATT iPhone 4S with latest IOS release. I'm interested to hear if folks can verify these before I send the list off to the black hole of FB support. 1. The main menu button is predictably mislabeled as "NavBarIconLauncher." 2. Attempting to swipe right past the "Status" button bypasses the "Photo" and "Check In" buttons and goes directly to the first post in the news feed list. I can, however, locate and select these two buttons using the hunt and peck method. 3. Swiping right past the "Check In" button I find 3 elements: "New Stories," "Network Error," and a number that has varied between zero and 7. Double-tapping any of these three elements opens a standard status update entry screen. 4. Double-tapping the "Sort" button brings up the usual item chooser at the bottom of the screen; however, double-tapping or split-tapping either of the two choices does change the sort order but does not close the item chooser. It also caused the FB App to completely close several times while I was attempting to make a selection. 5. VO now seems to treat each news story as a single, combined entity that includes the Poster's name, the text of their post, and the Like and Comment buttons. While it's nice to hear this all read in one fell swoop, this means that if I simply want to "Like" a post I now need to double-tap the post to open it before I can like or comment. This is not how it works for non-VO Users, as they are able to simply touch the like or comment buttons to activate them without needing to open the post itself.. 6. Not all elements within a post in the news feed view are read by VO. If someone shared a link, VO just announces, " Jane Doe shared a a link" but does not speak the link or associated information even though it is displayed on the screen in the news feed view. 7. If the Poster has tagged another FB subscriber within their post, double-tapping the post actually opens the tagged person's profile page rather than the desired post. 8. Only a dozen or so posts are displayed in the news feed and there is no obvious way to lengthen that list or go to older posts. -Bryan

By iHabilitationMan on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Even after removing it from app switcher and doing a hard boot, I still get kicked out to the home screen every time I set the sort ticker to "most recent". This is voiceover-related, because it works fine with VO off. We changed the sort, but then, when we turned VO back on, again! Kicked out to home screen. Then, of course you can't read the names in friends list, only the alphabet letters. So, while there are some very nice things in this release, it's largely useless for a lot of what I do on FB., So I hope they care enough to fix it. God forbid they should have some VO users as beta testers eh?
I have to say that for what I use FB to do, this is a great app! I haven't had many issues with the previous version, but news feeds are easier to navigate comment and "like." Much better. Haven't posted pics or vidios yet, but this is a great start! I too, have noticed the "network" error message and wonder what it means... I hope they keep it up!
I agree with others that the latest version of the Facebook app is an improvement (in some areas at least) to the app in general. I can comment on the fact that as far as improvements/issues are concerned, the tagging friends feature is, indeed, broken. I am also not too much of a fan of having to open a post just to like or comment on it, but again, I can live with it. I have seen the network error message and don't really know what it's there for, assuming it has a purpose. Those are my thoughts for now. If anything is communicated to Facebook, (perhaps that could be a future Campaign of the Month again)? I think it should be done constructively so as not to minimize the actual improvements and things that work.

By Kirsten Edmondson on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

Although having read the above comments clearly shows that this app still has some way to go, I definitely love this version the best. I too get the 'network error' error at the bottom of the page; have noted the mislabelling of the home/back button. Also, I have noticed that my newsfeed is in a random order: Someone's status from this morning, followed by someone's photo from Thursday and someone's status from yesterday, and then only do I get to the status/checkin/photo buttons, which seems a little strange. I too only have a few items in the newsfeed, but perhaps this will grow. What I really like about the app is that the buttons for notifications, messages etc are clearly labelled and they say how many there are. I particularly like that there is a friend requests button at the top, as it used to take me ages to access requests in the past. I have also noticed that if a post is quite long, it doesn't read it all out, it stops in the middle. The way to solve this is to click on it and go into the list of comments etc. I don't mind that you have to do that and that we have to do that to comment/like, unlike non-VO users as it just keeps it clear and uncluttered. I like the fact that it is easy to comment and like each individual post and that it responds and changes quickly and the buttons here seem properly labelled. I have still to play with it a lot more, not having explored groups or friends yet, but I am impressed so far!

By Larry Thacker Jr. on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

I too am happy with the accessibility improvements, but not being able to get past the 15 latest news feed items makes the app practically useless. No one should be in a hurry to throw out Voice Book VO.
I agree with Kirstin that this is the best app for Facebook so far. Much easier to navigate. I too, have noticed that it's much easier to see your notifications and how many there are. I've found that tapping the longer news feeds to get the full text works well. Perhapse I'm in the minority here, but I have always used the apps for facebook rather than the website. I don't particularly care for the VoiceBook app, but that's my preference. I find that this version is much easier to navigate and much less cluttered. It's a keeper!!!! I hope they continue to improve it as time goes on.

By Randi on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by Tj

Ironically I thought VoiceBook was more difficult than just using the facebook app. More cumbersome. Interesting how we all have different needs and preferences. A good thing too. Keeps life interesting. Lol!

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

They finally did it. They finally killed facebook to the point where it's not even viable to use it. When I first downloaded the app I couldn't believe how great it was. That lasted all of about 2 minutes, which was when i scrolled down past the 10th item in the news feed. This totally sucks. Sorry to say, but this app is totally useless for me now. Honestly, the accessibility improvements that did get introduced weren't for us anyway. There have been tons of articles recently about how bad the facebook app is (wired is a good example, just search for facebook). The app was really bogged down and slow, which is why there is more text and less buttons and shiny graphics thingies in the interface now. And also, what's the deal with that network error thing at the bottom? sometimes it shows up, and sometimes it just puts a random number in its place. Very frustrating. On a side note, I also won't be using voicebook. I used that app for about 5 minutes, and to be perfectly honest, I found it to be one of the most sloppily coded and messy apps i've ever used... and the thought of having to pay for it? totally laughable. Don't get me wrong, i'm glad to see that somebody cares enough to try, but if thats the best they can do, they should just go ahead and quit their day job and go back to doing whatever it was they were doing before they started coding useless junk apps. My hello world program was better than voicebook, and it didn't even compile on the first try... lol. Guess it's back to using focus... again. Even better? Maybe i'll just say goodbye to facebook apps and only get on with the mobile site.

By Morten on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 13:15

I have found a way of getting more news feed items. When you get down to the last item find it with your finger by dragging, and then do a dubletab and hold, then swipe up and release. Note: you have to swipe almost to the top of the screen for it to work. Now wait a few secunds, and you should now be able to see more items in the feed. And when you get to the last item again, just do the same. The cool thing is, that facebook remembers how many items you have loaded last time you had the app open, and fill the places with new posts if there is any. But please don't hang me up on it, this is how it is working on my device. Try it on your device, and see if it works. If there is anything I need to explain better, just tel me. And sorry for my bad English!
I knew there had to be a way... My question is: How do you find the last item in the newsfeed? When I get to the last item focus is set to something else on the screen. Thanks, Michael
Well, I must have to agree that now I've had several days to play with this. There are certainly some areas that are incomplete or wasn't touched from what I've seen in the last Facebook. It does appear it was half way done. The Newsfeed area is absolutely fantastic. I personally don't like the Like and the Comment button or link on the first page. This only caused more flicking or swiping. I like the method to double tap and see all of the comments on the secondary page. So with this. I will take in what they could get acomplished in such a short time. It look like to me that they focused on what was important and that was the Newsfeed area. So with that they did a fantastic job on this page. It does have it quirks about where things are but I believe it is a work in progress. This app still does a lot more than any other Facebook wanna be out there. I never really got in to the VoiceBook VO myself. I can't recommend it. First it doesn't show all of the newfeed as Facebook does. Also, you have to pay $1.99 just to say I like or Comment on a post? Not for me. It is to weird to use and clumsy as a UI. If it had a lot more features then it might be worth the $1.99. I can happlily say I like the new Facebook and they are finally going in the right direction with it. So I will keep my fingers crossed that this is a work in progress. As for the Newsfeed. The person that commented above me is correct! Yes, go to the last message. Flick to the right. You will hear a ding. That tells you there is no more feeds. There is a small dot right above the Home button. I can't see this of course bit my wife did. What I did was take my single finger. Double tap and hold. Swipe up towards to the top. Now go back to the message that was at the bottom. Now flick to the right. There are more newsfeed now! Works like a charm. I was able to get many newsfeed by doing this method. So a fantastic job in finding this! Awesome! I'm glad somebody figured this trick out.
Thanks for the quick response there AnonyMouse!
First of all, there's absolutely nothing wrong with your English! Second, thanks for the info about more news feeds. It worked just fine for me too. TD

By Larry Thacker Jr. on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 13:15

The news feed trick works, but I have found that once I have viewd notifications or presumably any other overlay that I can no longer read any of the content below the top bar. Nothing short of rebooting the phone makes it work again. The app remains pretty much worthless to me except for quickly reviewing notifications. At least they fixed that.

By Randi on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by Larry Thacker Jr.

I was very excited to find that I could post videos and photos using the app! I've done it several times this weekend with no assistance. Awesome!!!!
Well the latest update to Facebook hasn't solved any of the accessibility issues. Thought at least the friends list accessibility would've been resolved
While this incremental update doesn't seem to address the inaccessible friends list or the majority of newsfeed bugs I listed above, I did notice two items that seem to be at least partially resolved. 1. Sorting the Newsfeed is now workable.. Double-tap the button labeled "sort" located in the top right corner of the screen. This will open the expected item chooser near the bottom of the screen. Swipe up or down with one finger to select either "Most recent" or "Top stories" and double-tap to select your choice. Lastly, locate and double-tap the button labeled "Done" in the top right corner of the screen. This closes the item chooser and performs the requested sort process. I was still able to cause the App to abend during this process, but only when I didn't perform the double-tap to highlight the choice prior to double-tapping the "done" button. 2. The swipe order seems to have been corrected for the "photo" and "check-in" buttons, putting them back in the correct swipe order between the "status" button and whatever FB calls the section that announces "new stories" and the still-present network error" message. While I know many folks here seem to favor the new newsfeed layout, I am still very annoyed with the way FB has chosen to treat all elements of a news item as a single element requiring the VO User to open each individual news item in order to perform any kind of action on it or, in many cases, to even hear the content written by the poster, since some types of content seem to be hidden from VO even though the content is visible on screen. I find myself using the App a lot less often since installing version 5. As always with anything FB, YMMV.

By Larry Thacker Jr. on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 13:15

I don't know if it was the latest update to Facebook or the move to iOS 6, but I was having less trouble using the app. Checkin worked for the first time. However, there is still a problem after using the notifications, and I suspect other menus though I didn't try. I havent' heard anyone else raise this particular complaint but it's pretty consistent for me. If I dismiss the notification overlay without actually opening any of them nothing on the screen except the top line is accessible. The app becomes useless.

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

They have made some accessibility changes. I will go as far as they have made improvements.  They still have a way to go but that is twice that they have made some grounds.

 

The actual Status is easier to read. It now states the number of Likes and Comments. Double tap on that and read all of the comments. Easy to comment and like certain status.

 

The names are back up and working. I can now actually see my friends on the list where it was not working before.

 

They have change several things around a bit. You have to go to the Main Page to select the Most Recent or Top News. I like the Most Recent has being an option and doesn't crash.

 

Interface is not the best but this is worth the upgrade in my opinion!

 

What's New in Version 5.1

 

Now it's easier to chat with your friends and share multiple photos.
• Swipe left anywhere in the app to quickly see who's available and send a message
• Add friends you message most to the top of your Favorites
• Share multiple photos fast
• Give real gifts to your friends using Facebook Gifts (US-only)
• When sending messages, see who's active so you and your friends know how soon to expect a reply

By AJ M on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

I just updated the app and now I can't even log in to check out the changes. It still tells me that I'm signed into my account on iOS and the continue button is there, but when I tap it I get an error message. I click the ok button that comes upand the text fields are there, but even when I enter my info it doesn't work, just another error message appears. I've tried deleting and reinstalling the app then retyping my info in settings. Nothing worked. Although I don't use the app a lot anyway, it annoys me that all of a sudden it's unusable for me. I thought it worked ok before. Anyone else with this problem? Any solution?

By E88 on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

You still can't access friend list on the iPad. I still preferred it when VoiceOver read everything seperately, the name, status then the like and comment buttons. Also, just wondered if a person has location enabled on their status, does facebook still display it as voice over longer announces it.?

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Noticed that Find my Friends still continues not to work and that we still have the Network Error between the Timeline and the items to choose like the Photos and Check In area.

By Dave Nason on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by E88

Because in my opinion there were some big problems in the last version (5.0.1), I rolled back to the old HTML based app. It's a little slower to go through your newsfeed etc. but just about everything worked. Would people recommend now updating to 5.1?

By Santiago on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Before I instal the update, are there any crucial accessibility issues? I know they fixed some, but did they make some as well. Lol

By Daniel on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Sorry if anyone posted this already, but the friends page now reads the friends, as opposed to just being silent, at least on the iPhone. i'm in the process of getting a new iPad, so I'll test it as well as the message/chat function as well when I do.

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Alright, it is early but what I have seen so far is a major update for being accessible. I am curious in what others have found that is not accessible. Everything, I had to complain has been fixed now.

The network error is gone and fixed! It is now been replaced by the Find My Friends. Even the Find my Friends is now working great. Everything on the Main Page is working. I am able to tag people just fine.

So let me know what you have found that are not accessible.

What's New in Version 5.2

Now you can share the best stories from your news feed with just one tap.
• New Share link to re-post stories from your news feed
• Tag your friends in any post, comment or photo
• Smileys, hearts and other emoji in messages
• To sort your feed, tap the button next to News Feed in the left sidebar

 

By Daniel on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Subject says it all, how do you do this?

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by Daniel

Among many other features all I can find is that you can block the friend but haven't found a way to delete them or defriend them. The mobile platform was never meant to be a full robust feature as the web was mean to be. Very much like the Twitter app. Hopefully, someone has found a way to do so.

By Matthew on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by AnonyMouse

If you go to "friends" from the main menu the letter index headings are read by VoiceOver but the names of your friends appear to be blank to VoiceOver.
Ok it's much improved, but there are still some issues. When in Newsfeed, if a friend has posted a link or video for example, a double-tap takes you directly to that link or video. You cannot get to the likes and comments for that post as far as I can tell. The only work-around I have found is to leave the Newsfeed and go to your friend's page, and find the post there, which is annoying to have to do. Also on the subject of people posting links, it sometimes just says "Joe Bloggs posted a link", and gives no other detail. The update notes say that you can now share or re-post posts from your Newsfeed, but I can't find a button for this. Has anyone figured this out? It also says that you can sort your feed by tapping a button next to Newsfeed in the left sidebar. I don't see this? Thanks, Dave.

By Caleb Eee on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Hi friends, first of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Caleb from Malaysia. Have any of you tried to tag friends as the app suggest you can do? So far, I'll have to do a double tap and hold to tag friends. The problem is, if I want to tag a friend in the middle of comment, that is not possible. Any idea? Thanks.

By Jennie A Facer on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

I found the sort button. In the place where it says news feed, there is a gear beside it. Double tap that and you can sort. I still haven't found the share button or the video like thing.

By Caleb Eee on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

In reply to by Jennie A Facer

Yes, that button has been there in the previous version. Only that, when you browse through your feeds, if not mistaken, you will not need to do anything to read on. it will refresh itself. at least I think that's what happen to me, but I haven't done extensive testing yet. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. hahahaha

By Nanda on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

To delete a Facebook friend you need to find that person on your list of friends, then once you're in their Facebook you will find, Their photo then their Facebook name after that it will say friend click on that and it gives you an option to put them in a group like friends close friends family etc. if you scroll all the way to the end to the last option before cancel is unfriend. hopefully I helped. I love the new update so far did not find the share button if anyone finds that let me know it was like a birthday gift to me since today is my birthday
I had posted a comment saying it didn't work, but then found out you have to go into the app again for your list to refresh.

By Jamie Pauls on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

When viewing a post with likes, I am unable to see the names of people who liked the post. When I double-tap the link that says something like "Jamie Pauls and 5 others liked this post" I am taken to the user profile for Jamie Pauls and not the list of names. Also, even though I see two buttons within a post, one stating the number of likes and another stating the number of comments, both buttons seem to take me to the comments only. Is there a work-around for this?

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 13:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Jamie, As you are reading your time line of your friends statuses. You are correct you will see how many Likes and Comments for that particular status. Just do a single finger double tap to open that status up in to a new page. From this page you will be able to Like or Comment to that status. As you will see also are the comments that the people have left plus the ability to Like or Comment to their comments. Now If you know there are say like 4 people have liked this then right before the Comments it will say 4 people like this. Just use a single finger double tap on that. This will now show you whom Liked that status. So in some ways that is confusing because it isn't a button nor an actual link that Voice Over would normally say so. Hope that make sense and works for you. I see the others have found the way to delete or unfriend your friends. Plus, the ability to change your Newsfeed in how you want it sorted. So in short. This update is a major update. I will see about the Share as the Facebook as described that is new and see if there is a way. Others have found if a person gives a link to a video or a page. I'm not certain how you can Like or make a Comment on to those type of Status at this point. For now it does take you directly to those links. HTH