Facebook developer Joe Hewitt can finally rest easy knowing that his app is approved and in public hands. It certainly took long enough. Hewitt posted his submission on his Twitter page a couple weeks back. He made a blog post earlier this week decrying the App Store for its lengthy and often arbitrary approval process. Well the app is finally out, and it’s pretty great.

The update brings a whole list of new features along and gives the software a makeover. The new interface is much more direct, which is something I really appreciate. I probably say it too much, but I don’t really like Facebook, so making my user experience quick and to the point is fantastic.

I also like that I can manage events from the new app. I mentioned yesterday that I prefer an uncluttered digital experience and this is just one more thing I can manage on the go. As always, the app is free for download.

Apple’s been hard at work trying to remedy the disease that is the App Store review process. It’s lengthy, arbitrary, and creates more drama for the company than other issue. But Phil Schiller can only be in so many places at once, and try as it might, Apple is still letting apps fall through the cracks. Big apps. Highly anticipated apps. Facebook 3.0 apps.

We’ve been hearing about the new Facebook app for months, and it really does sound awesome. It adds a lot of features I won’t re-reprint here. But the app is stuck in review limbo, awaiting the whimsical approval of the 40-man review team, and even the developers are starting to speak out.

Facebook 3.0 developer Joe Hewitt has been the man primarily responsible for keeping the public up to date on the app’s progress. You really have to applaud the guy for making his submission public because it puts a lot of pressure on Apple (a move Real copied this week). Hewitt’s gone public again, this time with a long list of level-headed complaints for the review team. My favorite goes like this:

Oh, but you say that iPhone apps are different, because they run native code and can do scary things that web pages can’t? Again, you’re wrong, because iPhone apps are sandboxed and have scarcely any more privileges than a web app. About the only scary thing they can do outside the sandbox is access your address book, but Apple can easily fix that by requiring they ask permission first, just like they must do to track your location.

Be sure to read the rest of the post. It could have been a lot of whining and moaning and “I’m smarter than all of Apple combined.” Instead, Hewitt put together a solid argument for the dissolution of the App Store review process.

According to Joe Hewitt’s Twitter feed, Facebook 3.0 has officially been submitted to the app store. If you need the details on Facebook’s latest face lift, check out this post from earlier in the month.

The Facebook devs are definitely excited about this one. They’ve got a new page up where they plan to release more details and screenshots as our waiting begins. I don’t think we’ll be waiting for long, though. Apple already has enough app problems on their hands without adding Facebook to the list.

The feature I’m most looking forward to is video. I don’t really use my Facebook account for much more than keeping my family up to date on my comings and goings. Adding video to the mix is most certainly welcome.

The new and much-improved Facebook app is pretty much done, according Joe Hewitt, a Facebook programmer.

“The app is pretty much done – we’re just working on translating it into a bunch of languages,” he wrote on Twitter. The updated version of one of the iPhone’s most popular apps brings features everyone’s been waiting on for some time. We’ll finally have the ability to manage events, a more streamlined news feed, and a customizable homepage. The update also brings video support for the iPhone 3GS, which I’m pretty excited for.

Hewitt wasn’t willing to project a timeline for release. According to a response to TechCrunch, translating can take more time than you might expect. I don’t think end of the month is an unrealistic assumption.

Source: TechCrunch