Early Facebook Home Reviews Make It Clear It Isn't For Everyone

Facebook Home was released yesterday and the early reviews of version 1.0 are rolling in with a lot of hate.  As it stands now, Facebook Home has an average rating of 2.5 stars on Google Play, to put that in comparison to other Facebook apps, the traditional Facebook app sports 3.5 stars, Facebook Messenger sports 4.5 stars, and Facebook Pages Manager sports 4 stars, so it isn’t just people hating on Facebook.

As I write this post there are 1,010 one star reviews, which equates to about 44 percent of all the reviews given.  Again to put that in perspective, roughly 20 percent of reviews for the regular Facebook app on Google Play are one star, meaning Facebook Home has more than double the amount of one star reviews currently.

Many of the complaints mentioned not being able to run other widgets while using Facebook Home, several people also mentioned the phone app not being easily accessible (as well as other apps).  Other people complained about it ruining the “Android experience,” and that it was “too much Facebook,” (seriously, what did you expect?).  Nonetheless, with over 1,000 one star reviews, the people have spoken.  Clearly Facebook Home needs improvements, and fast.

I have to say, I thought Facebook Home looked cool (which also appears to be a common thought amongst people who gave Facebook Home one star) when it was first shown off to the world at the April 4 event, but these reviews definitely are a deterrent for me.  That being said, I haven’t used Android very much so if I were to install it right away, perhaps I wouldn’t have the same complaints as others (since I wouldn’t be familiar with the traditional Android experience).

So what needs to be done?  Well, Facebook said they will be rolling out updates to Home frequently, so expect the next version to include some improvements, but it may take a while for the Home team to figure out ways to better implement some of the things people are really complaining about (unless they already considered them), such as other widgets and easier ways to access other apps.

Perhaps the right approach for Home is deeper Facebook integration, without sacrificing the Android experience.  Can it be done?  I guess we will have to wait and see.

Have you tried Facebook Home yet?  If not, definitely head over to Google Play and read some of the Facebook Home reviews before installing it.  It may not be for you.