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Comment by pifflesnort | Hacker News Reader

I'd call the inability for Facebook to usurp control over Apple's vertically integrated platform to be a market advantage, not a liability, as long as too many users don't start clamoring for a facebook-iphone.

[edit] Remember browser toolbars? Now that Facebook is doing this, I expect this is just the beginning.

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android homescreens behave very differently than browser toolbars do. You can not set a homescreen secretly or in the background, and you can only have a single home screen set at any given time.

If the user decides to install a homescreen, and he does not like it, He will simply uninstall the app.

> You can not set a homescreen secretly or in the background, and you can only have a single home screen set at any given time.

A great many toolbars aren't "secret", they just engage in indirection to trick users into agreeing to installing them.

> If the user decides to install a homescreen, and he does not like it, He will simply uninstall the app.

Assuming the user even remotely understands what happened.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically when it is installed, so the browser toolbar comparison isn't perfect.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically

Automatically, no. But it will give you a prompt that will allow you to set the home button to go to Facebook Home.

Put another way, once installed, you press the Home key, and are 2 TAPS away from having it permanently set. It is a great solution to the problem, and something sorely lacking on iOS (for things like browser and email defaults).

I don't think I understand. You can install different home apps, and you can select which one will launch when you hit the home button. I do this, often.

"(Although resetting a default once you've chosen it could be made a lot easier)"

I imagine most customers reset the default simply by uninstalling the new launcher. The way through the app settings is really well hidden.

What he means is, a big problem with browser toolbars is that they are installed automatically.

With different home apps, the user is always in control. (Although resetting a default once you've chosen it could be made a lot easier)

So comparing it to browser toolbars doesn't really work.

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