Just as users are getting adjusted to the redesign over at Facebook.com, the no. 1 social network announced a biggie – Facebook Connect is finally functional for the iPhone. Announced this morning at the South By Southwest Festival, Facebook Connect for iPhone lets users link their apps with their Facebook profile to share their data with friends. That means Facebook’s stake in the world wide web just got a bit bigger.
iPhone popularity is on the rise – it was only a matter of time before Facebook would get in on the game. Allowing users to connect with selected iPhone apps means that without much work, Facebook gets a piece of the mobile pie. With all the apps online and mobile, having one login for everything is convienent and at some point almost necessary. And once you have that one login, it becomes more of a pain to “log out” and move your information anywhere else.
“For the first time, your iPhone apps can now have friends,” said Morin, senior platform manager at Facebook to the SXSW crowd, reports PC Magazine.
Viral growth of mobile iPhone apps is here, thanks to Facebook. For mobile advertisers, this means that apps that use Facebook Connect will get more for those oh-so-precious eyeballs.
Morin invited several iPhone developers to show off their new functionality. Representatives from Playfish, Tapulous (of “Tap Tap Revenge” fame), and SGN showed off how Facebook Connect for iPhone will work with games. For instance, you can share you scores in your Facebook feed, see which of your friends are online, and invite both iPhone- and non-iPhone-using Facebook friends to play with you.
