Android App Review: FriendCaster for Facebook -- A Space-Saving Alternative

14.11.11 The Reporter 0 Comments

We'll bet that most Android users are Facebook addicts who got their Droids to be able to go online for Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and just the occasional Email update. This is why one of the most essential Droid apps is the Facebook app.

There are several Facebook apps available on the Android Market. They include the official Facebook app, Tweetdeck, Nimbuzz, Seesmic, and if you haven't heard of it yet, FriendCaster.

Tweetdeck, Nimbuzz and Seesmic are heavily used by Twitter aficionados and social media experts who also want to be able to update their Facebook accounts from one single app. But for casual users, the up-and-coming app, FriendCaster, is fast becoming a favorite.

While we had raved about how amazing the Facebook app for Android was, and how it creates a complete Facebook experience on the Droid, we discovered one major flaw along the way: it eats up too much space.

We discovered that over time, the app doesn't trim the data it downloads; rather, it allows the data to keep accruing on your Droid's internal storage, letting the space used balloon. From the original application file size of 3.2MB, the app will expand up to 11++ MB. If you're on a standard Froyo Droid that can only accommodate around 120 to 170MB, 11MB is already a whole lot.

That is where FriendCaster comes in. Upon installation, the app will only take up only 2.2MB. But as you use it over the days, it tops off to only around 5MB. A world of difference from the 11MB that the Facebook for Android app can balloon up to.

Interface-wise, FriendCaster is admittedly kitschy. Also, it lacks the Chat function that's already embedded in Facebook for Android. There is also another bug that you may find annoying: some of the notifications, when you click on them, will redirect to a browser instead of being opened in FriendCaster itself.

If the only reason you aim to use Facebook on your Droid is to keep up with the updates or post some of your own while on the run, then FriendCaster will suffice. It will do the job for posting statuses, photos, Like-ing other people's posts (or your own) and let you have the standard fun you may be after, on Facebook.

In our opinion, the Like function on FriendCaster is actually better than the same function in the Facebook app. As we said, if you can put up with a bit of kitsch, then FriendCaster may serve you well.

For a while, something was up with Facebook and they stripped the "via iPhone" or "via Android" suffixes for users' posts. So, only users from FriendCaster (and possibly some other apps) were able to enjoy bragging that they were posting "via FriendCaster for Android." Nowadays, Facebook restored the labels, and anyone using a brag-worthy gadget can now boast about it via their statuses, again. If ever Facebook feels like stripping the "via KickAss Gadget" note once more, then trust that you'll still have your kickbutt "via FriendCaster for Android" label, since it's an independent app.

That being said, you now have a space-saving alternative to Facebook for Android.