[LnxPrgr3]

I did not buy 64GB of flash storage so Facebook could be lazy. I bought 64GB of flash storage to store media that gets noticeably better, to a point, when you throw more bits at it.

Things that are smaller than Facebook's iOS app:

- Windows, through at least Windows 95, if you count stuff written to disk during install

- The Java Runtime Environment

- Eclipse IDE

- Google Chrome for OS X (beware—updater leaves old versions in the app bundle)

- Firefox for OS X

- Pokémon Go

- A two-disc set encoded in 256kbps AAC

And to add insult to injury, Messenger is another 155MB, and is a separate app for some reason, probably with a second copy of that bigger-than-the-JRE-by-itself FBSharedFramework.

And while the sudden almost 300MB is new, the "I can't believe this is a Web service front-end and not an experimental operating system" bloat has been with us for a while.

[chii]

> I did not buy 64GB of flash storage so Facebook could be lazy.

then vote with your wallet, and remove the app. If you can't tear yourself away from facebook, the web is the "right" app to use!

[LnxPrgr3]

Fair enough. But people will decide not caring even slightly about binary size is admirable (move fast and make users buy new phones, I guess) and eventually everything will be huge. Already the number of sub-60MB apps is dwindling and the 100-and-up club is growing, if my recent updates list is any indication.

[CJefferson]

Unfortunately, on android facebook purposefully disables parts of the website (chat in particular) to force oyu to install the app.

[CoolGuySteve]

Chat is also disabled in the app. You have to download Facebook Messenger to get it.

I suspect that decision to split the app comes from equal parts marketing and software engineering incompetence.

[noisem4ker]

Chat can still be accessed through mbasic.facebook.com.

What other parts are disabled?

[maccard]

That's intentionally awkward. If I tap the messages icon on Facebook.com on mobile, I get redirected to a page telling me to download the app. Similarly, messenger.com points me to the App Store.

[CJefferson]

I didn't know about that website. Thanks.

[lmns]

On the contrary: You can even enable push notifications with Chrome for Android. Chat included. I haven't touched the native apps for ages and everything works just fine.