Stand-alone Mobile apps versus Internet Browser Apps

How many of you have the Facebook application on your phone? I think I would be safe to say that 98-99% of all of the you who view this blog post have the Facebook app on your phone. I am really curious to know why you have it on your phone, comment below?

About two years ago I did a little trial to see how much time I was spending on my phone each day. I was also checking to see which apps I was using most often, and how long I was using them per unlock of my phone. I was actually shocked by what I found. Looking at the report, I had used my Facebook app over triple of any other app on my phone. Its usage was just also over three hours longer than any other application including emails, phone app, and calendar all of which I use regularly. I was also amazed that I checked my Facebook app on average of every 10-15 minutes using it for no longer than one to two minutes on some occasions. I decided I was using it way too often and needed to find something better to do, so I deleted it and have yet to install it back on my phone.

Some people look at me weird and ask "cant you just get onto Facebook on the mobile browser?" my response is always, "Have you ever used Facebook on a mobile browser!!!?" If any of you have never used Facebook via the mobile browser on your phone, I would recommend doing so right now. It is quite possibly the worst experience EVER! When you login to Facebook through your mobile phone you will notice a tremendous difference in the feel and usability of Facebook. In the mobile app when you click on someones post, then wish to return to your feed it will take you back to where you were so you may continue viewing your feed from where you left off. In the browser it takes you back to the top where you get to scroll through all of the posts that you had previously viewed to get to the posts you have not seen. It can be really annoying if you were a ways down your feed and you find something you are interested in viewing further.

Now that you are looking at Facebook in the mobile browser try and post a picture or a video to your profile, or even try to change your profile picture. Just a heads up, get prepared to wait a while, and don't be surprised if it doesn't work. I have had to retry changing my profile picture four times before it would even show as uploaded to my profile. Then it was another hassle to choose the picture to put as my profile picture, because of course you cant do it in one fellow swoop.

Those are only a few things that make Facebook on a mobile browser annoying, which is why I choose to use it... I only go on Facebook when I am super bored, or as of right now, need to look at my social media class assignments or discussions. I will occasionally get on when I am bored to see what is going on in the world around me, but am quickly reminded by the lack of usability why I deleted the Facebook app in the first place. Now not only do I have more time on my hands, the battery life on my phone has gotten a lot better! I found an article that shows that the writer had as much as 15% more battery life at the end of the day by deleting the Facebook app and using the web browser.

So, what are you thoughts? Did you try out the mobile browser, if so, what did you like/dislike? Do you use the web browser for other applications like Twitter or Instagram? Share your experiences in the comments below!







http://www.howtogeek.com/239363/forget-the-facebook-app-use-the-mobile-site-for-a-less-annoying-experience/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/08/uninstalling-facebook-app-saves-iphone-battery-life