Well, it only took five months, but today, RIM sent out an email to users of the BlackBerry Facebook application that the forced “is” status has finally been removed from the application.
“An important update is now available with the following change: The “View Status Updates” feature no longer contains “is”.
The update itself was simple enough. I clicked the link in the email and went to a page that gave me a link to download the application. I agreed to some terms and conditions and then clicked the download button. My BlackBerry then issued the following prompt:
“Application “Facebook” already exists. Replace version 1.0.0.18 with version 1.0.0.23?”
I clicked yes and waited a few seconds (okay, it was almost a minute) for the download to complete. After the download was finished, my BlackBerry presented me with the following prompt:
“Device must be rebooted to complete install.”
The two choices presented were Later or Reboot. I chose reboot (and as you might guess, my BB shut off and rebooted – and took a few minutes to do so as usual). Once my security software verified, I went to check out my shiny, newly updated Facebook app.
But there “is” is. STILL THERE. So, I go and check my applications out via the options section and sure enough, it says I have the latest version (1.0.0.23). Maybe something went wrong… so I pull the battery from my BB and reboot again. But, the “is” still remains.
By now I am annoyed. So, I delete the Facebook application from my BlackBerry all together. After yet another reboot, my BlackBerry relaunches Facebook free (actually, the icon was still there – removing the Facebook icon takes an extra step then simply uninstalling – but the application was removed – clicking on the icon took you to the download page).
So, I downloaded and installed the application… again. I gave the app my Facebook login information again and signed in. I clicked the status updates icon and there “is” was – laughing at me.
What’s worse than going five months without an update to your application? Sending a ton of your users an email saying that you updated your application only to disappoint them. For now, save your sanity… because the “is” lives on.
