I often get questions about apps that are not working correctly for people and they want to know when it will be updated and what is taking so long. At times, the user has even submitted a negative review or an email directly to the app developer “days ago” and they have not seen an update yet. This seems to happen frequently with big apps like Facebook and is often met with responses from the public that resemble “Facebook can’t do anything right” or “Facebook sucks.” So, here is some insight on why Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t personally fixed your issue in the three hours since you submitted an issue.

At the start of 2009, there were 125 million Facebook users. That number was 375 million at the start of 2010, for a difference of about 200 million. That holds true, mostly, because at the start of 2012, there were 794 million users. Keep in mind that these 800 million users span multiple countries and languages. The technology required to keep them all involved in Facebook is spread across different browsers on different operating systems, mobile pages, apps - each with different access speeds. There are a lot of moving parts.

Updating an app is not as simple as fixing your individual issue. How will it affect users on an older version of iOS or Android users. Changing one piece of the app and how it pulls information affects the servers holding all the information and the connection to them. It is very much a “hip bone is connected to the thigh bone” kind of situation. Once Facebook app developers can fix an issue and ensure they haven’t broken some other connection in the process they can test the app in devices - of all platforms. When that’s done, it’s ready to be released.

But wait… like a bad infomercial at 3am… there’s more. They cannot release their own app. It gets submitted to the app store where Apple has to approve it. I can only speculate that apps like Facebook get a certain priority given their size. Even so, it is not immediate. The files that drive the app are uploaded to the app store for approval. With 794 million users and millions upon millions of those users in the mobile space using the app, the last thing Apple, for example, wants is everyone downloading the update at the exact same moment, along with all of the other apps people are downloading and updating. Carriers don’t want it either. So the relase gets staggered. When an update goes live, it gets put out a little at a time, spreading across the digital landscape until everyone has it.

With a process like that, not every problem will get addressed as they happen. Typically, developers wait for a series of issues and upgrades, unless the problem is so glaringly obviously that it can’t be ignored until the next planned release. There is no money in ignoring you. They don’t suck. It is just too big of a process to release updates for every single complaint within a 794 million user ecosystem.
Maybe that sheds some light on how it happens so you’ll understand in the future.

I found an issue in the much talked about Facebook for iPad app and show it here. It’s small, but exists nonetheless.

If you have an iPhone and you’re looking to upgrade, there are several options. You can visit a store, call AT&T or log into ATT.com and check your account. With over 500,000 apps on the app store, and a long relationship with Apple, it stands to reason that AT&T has made it easier still. The ATT Upgrader app allows you to input your number, last 4 of social security number and billing zip code to get an immediate look at your status.

Whether or not you are eligible for an upgrade, you can purchase a new phone from within the app. Even if you are ineligible you are greeted with a message that says,

You are not eligible at this time for an upgrade at a discounted price. However, you can take advantage of our no commitment pricing

On October 7 when the iPhone 4S launched, this was the easiest way to complete the purchase. Apple’s website was overloaded making a connection to each carrier. The phone number to Apple was not letting anyone through. Anyone with special pricing such as AT&T government or premier accounts was told that the transaction could not be completed online. If the Apple site let the customer in, a carrier would have to be selected, which was the common choke point. Using the AT&T Upgrader obviously connects only to AT&T which alleviates part of the processing problems during high volume upgrades. Of course, it is only built for iPhone customers upgrading to new iPhones. However, if you fall into that category, download the free app and give it a try. You’ll have your new phone on the way in no time.

Sounds like an app is coming like we all wanted. Why are you complaining?

- Yes, the font is smaller
- No iPad app
- No phone
- New addition to location services