I've already reviewed two iPad Facebook apps, ( Macworld rated 3 out of 5 mice ) and ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice ). Both were OK, but neither struck me as measurably better than relying on Safari to surf Facebook. (Social, in fact, seems to have disappeared from the App Store as of this writing.) I took a look at four more Facebook apps, to see if any other competitors could unseat Safari. To do so, the app would need to improve upon the basic Facebook experience that Safari already affords in tangible ways.

The first app I checked out was ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ). The app costs just a buck, and is also available in an . Unlike Social and Facebook Touch, Friended really aims to redefine the multitouch Facebook experience; rather than simply present a skinned version of , the app structures your Facebook data with its own unique approach. In portrait mode, you get your News Feed on the left (with options to navigate between the Live Feed, status updates, links, and more). On the right side are three modules: Recent Pictures, Recent Friends, and Chat. Recent Pictures unsurprisingly displays photos that your friends have uploaded to the site--tapping on any opens up that friend's recent photos in a popover window. Recent Friends shows the profile photos for buddies who were recently active on the site.

The Chat module shows your friends who are currently available for real-time chat, and the popover interface works well. The notifications you receive when your friend replies in chat could be a bit less subtle--a badge appears in the Chat module, and a brief sound is played--but overall, Friended offers my favorite Facebook chatting experience on the iPad.

In landscape mode, the News Feed ends up in the center column, with Recent Pictures on the left, and Recent Friends and Chat on the right. Either way, the presentation is clean and well thought-out. I do question the usefulness of the Recent Friends module, but it doesn't get in the way.