Android users who install the new version of the Facebook app will now have two other obligatory apps — Camera and Messenger — also installed.
The two apps look and work similar to the phone’s default apps but if users don’t want them, too bad: there’s no getting rid of the two additions without uninstalling the Facebook app entirely.
The Facebook camera app actually operates less efficiently than the native camera function, taking lower quality pictures. When using the app, it is not immediately clear that it is Facebook-specific. Unlike other photo apps like Instagram, the only benefit to Facebook’s Camera app is improved tagging of friends.
“People love Instagram, but almost nobody loves Facebook,” Jeffrey Van Camp writes for Digital Trends. “We all use it because we must (everyone is on it), but gutsy moves like these are why it lacks love. If someone wants to install a Facebook camera app, they can, but forcing three apps on users who only signed up to install one is not cool.”
“Trying to trick them into using the Facebook Messaging and Camera alternatives through deceptive icon designs and names is just sad,” he adds. “Well, sad and a bit savvy. Facebook may not be very lovable, but it does know how to insert itself deeper into your life.”
In a related Facebook story, the social network is taking steps to address security concerns. On Wednesday, it announced partnerships with Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos, and Norton/Symantec “to enhance its own URL blacklisting system; and it is launching a new service, the Antivirus Marketplace, with these five companies, to offer a selection of antivirus software to protect users even further. That software will be free of charge for the first six months of use,” details TechCrunch.
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