And now when Friends update their statuses with their locations, you'll be able to see their proximity to you with the "Nearby" feature that displays a large map with photos of your friends pinned to their locations. It's a neat little bonus for some; for others, it may take Facebook stalking to a new level.
Links to articles load fast, sometimes almost instantly. Unfortunately, the app currently links out to Zynga gaming apps you've downloaded to your iPad like Words with Friends. That will change soon when the developers roll out versions of its games fully playable from within the app itself.
Otherwise, Facebook for iPad works just as you would expect it to, with many of the same features from the desktop experience carried over. And with this week's software update to the iOS app, the iPad and iPhone versions look very similar: one just plays up the visuals.
Really, the overall feel of Facebook's first iPad release is snappy and intuitive once you get past the bugs. The focus on photos here is a nice touch, although there's nothing revolutionary here that puts third-party Facebook iPad apps to shame, at least not yet. The social network's users will undoubtedly be happy with it, even if some of them wonder what took so long.