Zune HD Facebook App is Out: Download Now!

After a long wait, the Zune HD app is finally available - good thing I opened my Twitter client tonight! You should see it in Marketplace > Apps now, but if you don't, it will likely appear shortly. I downloaded it and decided to take it for a spin. After waiting 10 seconds for it to start - seriously Zune team, you've got to fix the awful app load time - I entered my Facebook log-on information using the shockingly impressive keyboard. I don't use my Zune HD for much Web browsing, so I haven't used the keyboard since it was first added, and they've definitely improved it since launch. After logging in, you'll be presented with your wall and most recent status update. You can pivot left or right and choose from photos, status updates, or news feed. Unfortunately, nothing loads for me. I waited several minutes, but none of those three feeds showed me any information. Not a great first experience.

I pivoted over to the profile tab, and this was more functional. It loaded my status update, and I could see my info and uploaded photos. More photos and impressions after the break.

Figure 2: The notifications work - you tab the icon at the bottom of the screen, and they pop up.

Figure 3: Do I have an empty Inbox? No. The Zune HD Facebook client just doesn't load anything on Inbox, Sent Items, or Updates. The entire email tab was broken for me.

Figure 4: Thankfully, photos work! I can see all my photo albums.

Figure 5: Photos load nice and full-screen.

The basics of a solid Facebook client are all here - the user interface is really nice, and the application is fast and fluid. But until they fix the bugs and things like the status updates and news feed work, it's only good for looking at your own profile and photos. Apparently the Zune MVPs who attended the MVP Summit were given it to test; unfortunately I wasn't among them because I spent both days with the Windows phone MVPs. I'm surprised that Microsoft would release software with so many obvious bugs, but perhaps Facebook is having a bad night and the brokenness isn't Microsoft's fault. What's your experience like using the app?