For months now, the Facebook app on BlackBerry 10 has been in need of an update due to the app simply not functioning as it should. A new build has finally been pushed to BlackBerry World but to be honest; you 're probably not going to like it. Why? Well, because the app has been reduced to nothing more than a web browser link, meaning you're going to lose all BlackBerry Hub integration and sharing functionality. I know what some of you are thinking. Big deal, I'll just keep the old version, right? Nope. That will stop working as of March 31st, 2016 as noted in the BlackBerry Knowledge Base article that goes along with the update.

Overview

As of March 31st, 2016 BlackBerry smartphone users will have to perform an update for the BlackBerry Facebook application in order to continue using Facebook. The current BlackBerry Facebook application will cease to work on BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS versions 7.1 and earlier.

Those wishing to continue using Facebook are encouraged to move to the web-based experience which will provide the most feature rich alternative. To transition to the web based experience, users should visit BlackBerry World on their device and apply the available update for the Facebook application.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why has my Facebook app stopped working?

As of March 31st, 2016 an update to the Facebook application will be required for BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS versions 7.1 and earlier. If you wish to continue using Facebook, you are encouraged to move to the web-based experience which will provide the most feature rich alternative.

What capabilities will be gained using the updated version of the application on both platforms?

Ability to reply to comments and see replies to comments.

All posts should be loaded, no more "News feed could not be retrieved" or "Post could not be loaded" messages (unless the post was actually removed).

Any features available to Facebook website users will be available to you in the updated application.

What functionality will be lost with the updated version of the application?

BlackBerry 10 Facebook contact synchronization: Upon upgrading to the latest version of the application, Facebook contacts will no longer synchronize with the on-device Contacts application.

BlackBerry Hub integration: Messages/Chat, posts, friend requests, games, invites and other notifications will no longer show as entries in BlackBerry Hub. BlackBerry 10 smartphones will no longer have the ability to share items like pictures and videos directly to Facebook using the Share icon.

Looking to setup "near" real time notifications? - For near real time notifications, you can set up SMS or E-mail notifications on the FaceBook website: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=notifications

Why does Android and iOS continue to have a native application, but not BlackBerry?

The native Facebook application on other platforms use a private API not available for general use, and has not been made available to BlackBerry.

Why is the application prompting to logout of FaceBook?

Due to the changes with the FaceBook application, it is required to logout and login to the new version.

As I mentioned above, the Facebook app has been in need of an update for months now, and it seems rather than fixing it BlackBerry decided to just go ahead and effectively kill it because of the lack of API access from Facebook. Not overly surprising just rather disappointing. What's next? The Twitter app? Will that simply become nothing more than a browser link as well, because that's easier than updating the app? The app itself is already broke in multiple ways so it might as well be removed.

Thankfully, there's still options out there for third-party Facebook apps. The Facebook app 'update' is live right now, so you can grab it or wait until March 31st when it will stop working altogether and then update. It's worth noting again; this is on Facebook, not BlackBerry so if you're angry, direct your anger to Facebook.

Discuss more in the CrackBerry Forums