facebook,  homebrew,  lifestyle,  palm,  pixi,  pre,  web os

Palm Updates (Beta) Facebook Client

The other day I posted that new mobile Facebook clients for iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Google Android had popped up in their respective app stores.  On Friday evening, Palm posted their v1.4.5 update to the beta Facebook client which now includes support for the Facebook Paces feature.

To learn more about how to install Palm beta applications on your webOS phone, hit the “Read more” link for some helpful information on how to get started.


Since this is a beta application, it doesn’t show up in the App Catalog – version 1.4.0 shows up there, which introduced support for multiple webOS cards for Facebook.  (Think of webOS “cards” as separate browser windows or tabs.)

To install the beta version of the Palm Facebook client, you must first install two pieces of software: WebOS Quick Install on your PC, and Preware on your Palm webOS phone.

If you are unfamiliar with Homebrew apps, or installing WebOS Quick Install, then head over to PreCentral.net where you can read all about Homebrew apps and for the download and directions for installing WebOS Quick Install (free PreCentral forums registration is required.)

Once you have WebOS Quick Install loaded on your Palm webOS phone, you are ready to install Preware, which is a fairly easy task when you use WebOS Quick Install.

After you have installed Preware and launched it on your webOS phone, you can search for Facebook and find the beta client.  You install apps in the Palm beta channel the same way you install applications in Palm’s App Catalog and you’re ready to rock-n-roll.  To check for future updates to the beta Facebook client, launch Preware on your Palm every now and again and check the Updates section of the Preware screen.

Sure, this all sounds really geeky and strange if you haven’t played with Homebrew apps on your Palm Pre or Pixi before, but it is really easy to do and opens the door to hundreds of great app that aren’t available directly from Palm.