Social networking giant Facebook yesterday announced at a press event, at its headquarters in California, that downloads for its Android home screen sleeve, dubbed Facebook Home, is nearing the one million mark.
Three weeks after Home was made available, on 16 April, only 500 000 users downloaded it.
Responding to questions about the lukewarm reception from users, director of products at Facebook, Adam Mosseri, said the number of downloads is not important, but rather what people think of the app and that they like the app.
Add to this, ratings of Home on Google's Play store is still stuck at an average of two out of five, with many user reviews indicating that people try out the app and then almost immediately uninstall it.
Facebook also said that within four weeks since the launch of Home in April, Home increased its user engagement by more than 25% compared to the standard Facebook app.
However, the social network did not reveal how many of the installations are being actively used.
Facebook said it is working on various features to smooth out glitches that have been highlighted by user complaints. Director of mobile engineering, Cory Ondrejka, said users complained that Home makes it hard to find their other apps.
He added that Facebook plans to create app folders within the launcher that would give users immediate access to important apps.
Facebook said it is also working on the Home tutorial and would provide a more thorough introduction to the app. Another update to the Chat Heads feature will allow users to see who's online simply by sweeping left across the screen.
Facebook said it will update Home on a monthly basis, with the latest update released yesterday, and the next updates expected on 9 June and 11 July.
Facebook phone fail
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that HTC's First smartphone, which comes pre-loaded with Facebook Home, is not selling as well as expected. According to TechCrunch, US mobile carrier AT&T dropped the price of the HTC First on contract, from $99 to $0.99.
This should not come as a surprise if pundits' predictions are anything to go by. After the launch of Facebook Home, Benedict Evans, of Enders Analysis, said the Facebook Phone would not catch on. "Sadly, given HTC's current position, I don't expect this to change the trajectory of anything."
From a local perspective, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck concurred, saying HTC does not have a big presence in the South African market. "The phone is targeted at people who primarily use it for Facebook. It could become more popular as the entry-level Android market grows."
Facebook Home is also not available for the iPhone and, according to Evans, it will almost certainly never be, as Apple would not permit such a takeover of the interface.
Facebook Home is supported by only four devices: HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
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