New Facebook iPhone App Includes Chat

Facebook has released a new version of the Facebook application for the iPhone which is available to be installed tomorrow at the launch of the new iPhone. The application includes chat which means you will be able to chat with all of your Facebook friends while on the go. Personally, I think this is a big deal because you will have instant access to all of your friends who are on Facebook. Does this spell the death of SMS?

Probably not but with this embedded chat application I could definitely see SMS becoming less necessary as your friends become increasingly connected. Other features of the application include a friend phonebook and a number of features previously included on Facebook mobile applications including inbox access, friend status updates and profile access. The inclusion of chat on this application is a big deal though and I expect it to help Facebook chat become more widespread.

I’m currently an active Facebook chat user and I know a number of my friends use it regularly as well. It’s a quick and easy way to get in contact with those friends that you don’t have saved on your general buddy list. Unfortunately I only have the screenshot provided in the apple store but once the iPhone comes out tomorrow it will be easier to get better screenshots.

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80 Comments »

Why can't I see this new site on my iPhone? When will I be able to?!So excited for this feature!

Comment by Mike Caputo — July 10, 2008 @ 5:07 am

so is this why the iphone facebook app wont connect?Because i'm suuuper excited for this…and its frustrating that the app "cant connect to facebook at this time…"

Comment by Denver — July 10, 2008 @ 7:34 am

Joe from Facebook here. There was a small issue with our servers which has been resolved. You should be able to use the app within the next 30 minutes.

Comment by Joe Hewitt — July 10, 2008 @ 8:46 am

you have to download the pre-released 2.0 firmware…or wait until tomorrow…and update itunes to 7.7 so u have the app store and download the free facebook app.its not a website…its a native application

Comment by Denver — July 10, 2008 @ 9:01 am

Why can’t I see this new site on my iPhone? When will I be able to?!

So excited for this feature!

Comment by Mike Caputo — July 10, 2008 @ 10:07 am

Why the hell did they leave out walls and put chat?

Comment by Sam — July 10, 2008 @ 10:18 am

Will the chat feature replace SMS? Duh! Of course not. To use Chat, people have to be logged in to Facebook. SMS is asynchronous.

Comment by Raphael — July 10, 2008 @ 10:49 am

so is this why the iphone facebook app wont connect?

Because i’m suuuper excited for this…and its frustrating that the app “cant connect to facebook at this time…”

Comment by Denver — July 10, 2008 @ 12:34 pm

Joe from Facebook here. There was a small issue with our servers which has been resolved. You should be able to use the app within the next 30 minutes.

Comment by Joe Hewitt — July 10, 2008 @ 12:46 pm

you have to download the pre-released 2.0 firmware…or wait until tomorrow…

and update itunes to 7.7 so u have the app store and download the free facebook app.

its not a website…its a native application

Comment by Denver — July 10, 2008 @ 2:01 pm

Why the hell did they leave out walls and put chat?

Comment by Sam — July 10, 2008 @ 2:18 pm

Will the chat feature replace SMS? Duh! Of course not. To use Chat, people have to be logged in to Facebook. SMS is asynchronous.

Comment by Raphael — July 10, 2008 @ 2:49 pm

but how can u get it?can u give some more info please

Comment by Ruchi — July 11, 2008 @ 4:44 am

but how can u get it?

can u give some more info please

Comment by Ruchi — July 11, 2008 @ 5:44 am

Well, since iPhone apps can't run in the background, I don't know that you'd be able to keep your Facebook chat open like Google Talk. SMS will be around, until we all have cheaper data plans.

Comment by Ahson Wardak — July 12, 2008 @ 6:11 am

What about this URL: http://iphone.facebook.com? Should it not be possible to check out the chat function through this? I can seem to find it.

Comment by Thore — July 12, 2008 @ 10:58 am

Well, since iPhone apps can’t run in the background, I don’t know that you’d be able to keep your Facebook chat open like Google Talk. SMS will be around, until we all have cheaper data plans.

Comment by Ahson Wardak — July 12, 2008 @ 11:11 am

What about this URL: http://iphone.facebook.com? Should it not be possible to check out the chat function through this? I can seem to find it.

Comment by Thore — July 12, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

can't seem to chat with the new iPhone 2.0 App. "Message unable to be sent. try again later". Anyone else having this problem?

Comment by Kevin L — July 13, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

can’t seem to chat with the new iPhone 2.0 App. “Message unable to be sent. try again later”. Anyone else having this problem?

Comment by Kevin L — July 13, 2008 @ 5:44 pm

Does facebook chat messages count towards my text messages??

Comment by Steve — July 15, 2008 @ 10:18 am

Does facebook chat messages count towards my text messages??

Comment by Steve — July 15, 2008 @ 2:18 pm

Awesome app. The chat list comes up but everytime I send a msg, â€œMessage unable to be sent. try again laterâ€.This has been going on since launch, even with the new FB app 2.1. It seems to be a problem for every Fido and Rogers (Canada) iPhone user.Please fix it!

Comment by Shawn Korin — July 18, 2008 @ 8:35 am

Awesome app. The chat list comes up but everytime I send a msg, â€œMessage unable to be sent. try again laterâ€.

This has been going on since launch, even with the new FB app 2.1. It seems to be a problem for every Fido and Rogers (Canada) iPhone user.

Please fix it!

Comment by Shawn Korin — July 18, 2008 @ 9:35 am

Switzerland (Swisscom) has the same problem with the chat feature.

Comment by Thomas — July 20, 2008 @ 7:35 am

Switzerland (Swisscom) has the same problem with the chat feature.

Comment by Thomas — July 20, 2008 @ 11:35 am

I can't find a way to check for friend requests from the app. Can someone shine some light on this please?

Comment by Justin — July 21, 2008 @ 11:06 am

I can’t find a way to check for friend requests from the app. Can someone shine some light on this please?

Comment by Justin — July 21, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

Seriously, what the hell is going on with the chat function? I bought the app on day 1 and have never been able to get past the 'unable to be sent' error message. This thing is simply busted.

Comment by Benjamin — July 22, 2008 @ 11:41 am

Seriously, what the hell is going on with the chat function? I bought the app on day 1 and have never been able to get past the ‘unable to be sent’ error message. This thing is simply busted.

Comment by Benjamin — July 22, 2008 @ 3:41 pm

I loaded the app but get a blank facebook page. Where is the login?

Comment by John — July 23, 2008 @ 9:50 am

Hey guys, just got the app. Would love it to work but i also havnt managed to send an instant chat message! (England). Joe Hewitt please shed us some light!!

Comment by vick — July 23, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

I loaded the app but get a blank facebook page. Where is the login?

Comment by John — July 23, 2008 @ 1:50 pm

Hey guys, just got the app. Would love it to work but i also havnt managed to send an instant chat message! (England). Joe Hewitt please shed us some light!!

Comment by vick — July 23, 2008 @ 4:58 pm

Hey guys!I was having the same problem with the chat, and I figured it out. Go on to facebook.com on your regular computer, make sure you're online and then you can logout. Right after I did that, I tried the chat on my phone and it worked for the first time. I hope this will work for you guys…Good luck!

Comment by Ameet — July 24, 2008 @ 10:59 pm

Hey guys!

I was having the same problem with the chat, and I figured it out. Go on to facebook.com on your regular computer, make sure you’re online and then you can logout. Right after I did that, I tried the chat on my phone and it worked for the first time.

I hope this will work for you guys…

Good luck!

Comment by Ameet — July 25, 2008 @ 3:59 am

"unable to send chat" keeps coming up for me too. I haven't been able to use the chat feature since installing. Any help would be appreciated!

Comment by Sandra Ferron — July 27, 2008 @ 9:09 pm

“unable to send chat” keeps coming up for me too. I haven’t been able to use the chat feature since installing. Any help would be appreciated!

Comment by Sandra Ferron — July 28, 2008 @ 2:09 am

ErrorYour message could not be delivered at this time, Please try again later MESSAGE…annoying……..this crap does not work…

Comment by Steven — August 4, 2008 @ 9:22 pm

Error

Your message could not be delivered at this time, Please try again later MESSAGE…

annoying……..

this crap does not work…

Comment by Steven — August 4, 2008 @ 10:22 pm

Ever since i installed the so called update version of the FB application on my iPhone the chat function does not work .. it has the same error msg as everyone else. I tried to do what the other user said about logging in on your computer and logging out but that doesn't help either. Can anyone shed any light? When will fb fix this problem ? or does anyone know how to get rid of the update and re-intall the non updated version?

Comment by NBAustralia — August 6, 2008 @ 7:27 pm

same with me can't chat keeps saying error can't be sent try again later … How do you fix this?

Comment by rob — August 12, 2008 @ 4:25 am

same with me can’t chat keeps saying error can’t be sent try again later … How do you fix this?

Comment by rob — August 12, 2008 @ 8:25 am

I just got the iPhone. 3G installed the FB app the chat function only worked once and now each time I type a message it just vanishes after I click send. It's so annoying. Does anyone know why?

Comment by sabrina — August 13, 2008 @ 11:36 am

I just got the iPhone. 3G installed the FB app the chat function only worked once and now each time I type a message it just vanishes after I click send. It’s so annoying. Does anyone know why?

Comment by sabrina — August 13, 2008 @ 3:36 pm

anyone know how to delete chat convos?

Comment by m — August 22, 2008 @ 7:06 am

i can't get my facebook chat on my iphone to work, every time i try to send a message it comes back with this error…can't send your message at this time, please try later… someone please help as its really frustrating me….

Comment by emma bullivant — August 25, 2008 @ 11:41 pm

um first off i cant even install it because itsasking for account information.which account information do i use? apple id or does it have to be itunes account?

Comment by Ramos — August 28, 2008 @ 6:54 pm

hi can anybody help ? i'm trying to send a message through face book instant chat service on the iphone but comes up message failed every time i send …… thanks

Comment by 1wsb — October 1, 2008 @ 4:13 am

"your message could not be delivered at this time. please try again later iphone facebook"

SOLUTION FOUND – logon facebook via website & put yourself available to chat. Now go back on your iphone – you should be able to chat on it now

Comment by lisssa — November 5, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

Can you tell me how to download the Facebook Utility for the iPhone? Thanks!

Comment by Tom — November 7, 2008 @ 7:37 am

I logged onto facebook and set my status as online but I still get the error message telling me to try again later! Help??

Comment by lilian — November 7, 2008 @ 11:23 am

when i click on chat in my ipod touch facebook app it says "there was an error uploading your friend list" what should i do?

Comment by robert — June 21, 2009 @ 5:52 pm

i get the same message robert!

Comment by Kara — July 12, 2009 @ 7:30 am

When i go try to talk to one of my friends on my iphone chat it just cancels facebook intirely and goes back to the page where i can choose an app what can i do to fix this or can it even be fixed? Also it only happens with one of my friends is it one thing with my friends account or is it my IPhone?

Comment by Elli — July 24, 2009 @ 10:50 pm

i am have same issue with Elli, any suggestion

Comment by Donald Kee — August 3, 2009 @ 7:30 am

How about this…..My daughter has a FB account. When I go to look at her site on my computer, all is fine. If I try on my iphone thru the FB application….it say she has “no posts, information, photos”. She has millions of photos and posts, but just not when I see if from my iphone. I have even had others try from theirs and it did not pull up. Plus, like others, if I see she is on line and I want to chat, it just kicks me out of FB. Facebook and Apple never have responded to the 5 times I have asked for help. Can someone in this world help me???? Please!!!!

Comment by Kevin — August 5, 2009 @ 10:40 pm

Hi Kevin I have same problem on my gf fb account and two other mates account on her 3g iPhone.if I log in to my account on her iPhone 3g all is fine but if she logs in it doesn’t show chat friends and sumtimes doesn’t show any posts on her wall.if she logs in on my 2g it’s the same. Problem travels to my iPhone so it’s not the iPhone it has to be the accounts,can or does anybody have a fix for this cause it’s drivin me mad.I created new account and restored to 3.0.1 and still no such luck.

Comment by Matrix — August 8, 2009 @ 9:50 pm

Wow stunnin

Comment by Farouk — August 9, 2009 @ 10:42 pm

Whats poppin homies

Comment by Farouk — August 9, 2009 @ 10:45 pm

Lets get frontin

Comment by Farouk — August 9, 2009 @ 10:55 pm

my iphone wont connect to face book when playing zynga?? it just goes to my main menu screen. can you help?

Comment by JJ — October 6, 2009 @ 8:53 am

I got the iphone the other day just for the facebook chat, if knew there was a problem would have never got it. when i go online i can see who is out there but they can't see me. i can send a message but they can't send me one back if they do it goes to my inbox. is there a way to fix this?

Comment by ja — November 16, 2009 @ 9:18 am

I have an IPHONE and 3 weeks ago when on Facebook I could chat with others but now I can't what is the problem?? I miss being able to chat on the go, how can I get this fixed ASAP!!

Comment by Tammy — December 2, 2009 @ 5:46 pm

So I just found this thread b/c I was getting these FB status/comment notifications and was concerned that they WERE SMS. Relieved to learn that they are NOT and I shouldn't be charged text fees.

Whew!

Comment by Ms. G — January 13, 2010 @ 9:50 am

anytime i log in facebook it says that facebook chat could not connect at this time. pls, what should i do?

Comment by wale davis — January 19, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

anytime i log in facebook it says that facebook chat could not connect at this time. pls, what should i do?

Comment by ashrafmohammad — March 5, 2010 @ 12:02 pm

my facebook chat doesn't work on my iPhone. I can send a message but the replier can not. It says I'm offline. I have reinstalled the app numerous times but I still have the same problem.

Is there anything I can do about this problem??

Comment by moshti — March 28, 2010 @ 4:13 am

How do I delete old messages from facbook chat on my iphone3gs, and my new messages please help

Comment by Johnpaul — May 7, 2010 @ 5:52 pm

When I use my Iphone to chat, the conversation is recorded on my home computer. How can I stop the home computer from recording my chat?

Comment by Dawn — May 18, 2010 @ 11:52 am

I use to be able to chat on Facebook from my iPhone, but can't anymore. I get a message that says: Alert/your message could not be delivered at this time. Why is this?

Comment by Ora Carey — June 9, 2010 @ 11:58 am

Same, this is totally rubbish!

Comment by Marc B — June 10, 2010 @ 8:20 am

I have the same problem as ora

Comment by Tarif — June 10, 2010 @ 10:25 am

I can send Chat messages from my FB app and it works fine – but do not get any notifications of chats sent to me through it! Has anyone else come across this issue? Do I need to re-install the app? Please help.

Comment by Dawn — September 2, 2010 @ 10:06 am

Holy crap your a genious i have been trying for so long to fugure that out!!

Comment by leesa — September 9, 2010 @ 1:36 am

hi i have the iphone (3g) and i have the app for the iphone buts its the (old APP) and i wnat to know how to download the new one for iphone but i dont know wear to go to get the new facebook app Pls help me thanks

Comment by SopHieX — October 21, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

why doesnt chat show all your friends online?

Comment by morgan — January 22, 2011 @ 10:39 am

how do I delete a chat session from the facebook iPhone app?

Comment by Noel Obourn — February 10, 2011 @ 10:55 am

I have a question what if you have the old Iphone can you still get the facebook chat?

Comment by alexis — April 12, 2011 @ 2:12 pm

ever since i updated the new facebook to my iphone it wont let me post a status nor will it let me check in.. when i try to check in it tells me "error-your update could not be posted at this time".. anybody know why its doing this or know how to help me?!

Comment by tara — September 24, 2011 @ 9:58 am