And yes, we have heard the numerous promises from Facebook that they are working improving the experience, but it never does work out for them. If you’ve been on the hunt for a viable alternative to the official Facebook app for your iPhone or iPad, we have a few options for you to choose from.
Facebook Alternative Apps For iPhone and iPad
#1 Facely HD For Facebook
This is yet another great wrapper (mobile website redesigned as an app) for browsing Facebook on your iOS device. The good news is that while saving data and battery on your phone, Facely also is capable of sending you live notifications. But, you can only use Facebook for basic actions like liking, commenting and uploading photos and videos. Apart from Facebook, it also allows you to log in with accounts from Twitter, Linkedin, and Tumblr. It’s priced steeply at around $2.99, but it’s worth the money for its security features and ease of use. Also, there are persistent banner ads at the bottom of the screen, so the free version doesn’t make any sense. Download Facely HD For Facebook ($3)
#2 Social Media Vault
This is a rather extensive kind of app. Not only does it offer Facebook and Instagram support, but it also lets you log in and manage over 25 accounts on social media platforms including Twitter, Skype, Google Plus and even Pinterest. For Facebook, Social Media Vault offers a simple and minimalist feel that is reminiscent of the iOS mobile website, which means it’s a no-frills app for your perusal. Overall it’s good for accessing various social media handles from one place. Download Social Media Vault (Free)
#3 Quickly for Facebook
As the name suggests, Quickly is a ‘quick’ way of accessing Facebook on your iOS device, when compared to the official app on the app store. It offers all the features that you would normally see on the real deal. Apart from that, you can also change the background pictures, send emoticons, set customized ringtones for message alerts and even send users your location. The Quickly app also doubles up as a photo-editing app with effects like classic, old photo, lomo and red light to spice up your clicks. Though, the advertise video chat feature only work on iOS, when both parties install this app. Download Quickly for Facebook (Free)
#4 Puffin for Facebook
This is one of the most unusual alternatives for the iOS Facebook app out there. It conserves battery by not sending you any notifications at all. So, if you are all about the live updates, this one’s probably not for you. But if you want some extra juice, read on. This app is practically the Puffin browser, customized for Facebook with the primary purpose of saving you precious data and battery. It’s also quite fast and works best for slow Internet connections, by compressing the data on the app. By default, photos are displayed at a lower resolution, but you can just shake the phone to view an image in full quality. Overall it’s another wrapper app for Facebook with limited features. But unlike others it’s fast, optimized for battery and completely Free ( Free as in no Ads or IAP) Download Puffin for Facebook (Free)
#5 Friendly for Facebook (Top pick)
Friendly is a great lightweight alternative to the official Facebook app. It offers access to both your Facebook and Instagram, so it becomes your one-stop shop for sharing photos as well as text updates. It is specially optimized for battery conservation and will be fine even if it is running in the background. The free version has ads, which can be removed by IAP of $3. Since it’s a wrapper for Facebook, you can send and receive messages without downloading messenger app. It also supports push notifications for messages and notifications, which works pretty accurately in our testing. Overall, if you can remove the ads, it can become a complete replacement for the Facebook app. Download Friendly for Facebook (Free)
Comparing Top 5 Facebook Alternative Apps For iPhone
Wrapping Up
While the number of good Facebook alternatives on iOS is currently somewhat limited, these five apps work the best and will help cover the shortcomings of the official app, till it gets better. Do let us know your favorite one out of these, or if you have one that isn’t featured here. Also, if you rarely use Facebook, then why not use its mobile version, instead of using downloading a third-party app. For quick access, you can also add a shortcut on your desktop.
