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Use Facebook in a different way with these apps

pexels photo 267482
© pexels

Why would anybody need an alternative app for Facebook when there is already an official Facebook app? Because it eats up your data, battery and memory. 

Despite all the negative press about Facebook recently, it's hard to say goodbye to the app, and there are no real alternatives to Facebook right now. In addition, the app of course can be a drain on any smartphone's system.

These two problems can be solved. Either install a different app to save your data, battery life and memory, or if you want to delete the app for good, we recommend an alternative.

Facebook Lite

Previously, your only options for a slimmer, less data intensive version of Facebook were the mobile site and wrapper apps. But now we have an official Facebook app that does the trick.

Facebook Lite is a standalone app that can replace the regular Facebook app. It uses less data and works on 2G networks or when you don't have a stable connection to the internet, meaning it won't cost you so much data if you want to keep your monthly bill low. It's also a small app, so it doesn't take long to download and install.

It's the fastest version of Facebook you'll find. See your friends' posts and upload photos quickly and efficiently. The app is compatible with most Android phones, even older ones. You don't lose too many features since you can still message and have group conversations, get notifications and share updates with multimedia attached.

${app-com.facebook.lite}
AndroidPIT Facebook app uninstall
Go on: press it. It's time. / © NextPit

Facebook mobile site shortcut: for basic use

Let's start with the easiest and lightest method. If you head to Facebook in Chrome, hit the options button and select  Add to Home screen, then you've got a quick and convenient way to check Facebook without all the resource-intensive bulk of the official app.

There's practically nothing you can't do via this method that you can through the app, either. In Chrome, just head to the options menu, go to Settings > Site settings > Notifications and make sure notifications are allowed, and you'll continue to receive notifications for new messages, friend requests and everything else. 

As you will see below, there are some extra features you can access with a little help, including a notification shade bar.

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Allowing notifications in Chrome lets the Facebook site operate very similarly to the app. / © NextPit

Tinfoil: for the original wrapper

As with all the apps listed from here on in, Tinfoil is little more than a wrapper for the mobile Facebook site, making it light, fast and far, far less resource-intensive than the official Facebook app.

Tinfoil is the original, open-source Facebook site wrapper. It offers increased privacy, stripping out Facebook's data mining capabilities from the mobile site and serving everything to you in a neat package.

${app-com.danvelazco.fbwrapper}
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Tinfoil is lighter than the official Facebook app and increased your privacy. / © NextPit

Swipe: for the closest thing to the Facebook app

The newest entry into the Facebook wrapper arena, Swipe places a heavier emphasis on UX and UI design than the other apps here. The app has the same battery and memory-saving advantages – although currently it is slightly more battery-intensive than the other wrappers found on this page – but its main draw is how it functions more like the official app. Things like pressing on the active tab to scroll to the top of the page and tapping again to refresh the page will make this the easiest wrapper to transition to.

Its name comes from its tab-swiping navigation system, which allows you to scroll through your news feed, friend requests, notifications, and more, just by swiping left and right.

It also has a pin lock feature, securing the app against curious peepers, and there are a host of themes that change the colors, as well as four Look and Feel options that alter the layout and look of the app more drastically.

${app-com.happening.studios.swipeforfacebookfree}
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One of Swipe's themes is a dark theme, and there's an AMOLED black one, too, for even less battery-consumption. / © NextPit

Toffeed: for the slickest experience

Toffeed provides perhaps the smoothest wrapper of all. It's crisp, clean and fast, and it also has an omnipresent circular button placed at the bottom right of the screen that you can press to make a post, be it a status update, photo or check in.

Another feature of note is that Toffeed enables more granular notification sync frequency options than any other app listed. Anything down to five minutes is possible. This determines not only notification timeliness but also how battery-intensive the app is.

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Toffeed is fast and smooth, and it offers a quick way to post to Facebook. / © NextPit

If none of these alternative apps suit you and you just want to limit your data use on the regular Facebook app, you can adjust how many photos you want to see by following Facebook's tutorial.

Have you used any other social media platforms or deleted Facebook all together? Tell us your thoughts in the comments. 

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Go to comment (62)
Chris Marshall

Chris Marshall
Junior Editor

Chris is a graduate in English and Philosophy and habitual tamperer with technology. A recent convert to Android, through the marvel of the Samsung Galaxy S6, he looks to share the fruits of this technological honeymoon through AndroidPIT.

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62 comments
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  • 1
    veganbaconbits Aug 9, 2018 Link to comment

    I just want a way to turn the sound off by default on videos and have other options FB won't let me do with their app. What's my best choice for this?


  • Mark G. 28
    Mark G. May 22, 2018 Link to comment

    I only use FB for family stuff, I spent a good 15 minutes going through the privacy & security settings along with the data gathering advert settings and turned everything OFF - including and probably most important setting APP Platform - this allows FB to track you via the "like & share" buttons inbeded in Web pages.
    Also and again probably more important is the App permissions - especially microphone permissions. FB has been shown to use the microphone on mobile devices to listen to conversations in order to deliver specific ads via their platform.

    You can get the same functionality without FB sucking all your private data and spitting out adverts.

    Peace 🖖

    SorinElfyn


  • 1
    Deactivated Account Oct 3, 2017 Link to comment

    Link play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chappie92k.lite

    This is what i use. Its Old School Interface of Facebook and app is pretty good. Only 1-2 mb and use around 2mb ram. Make my phone lot faster plus basic Facebook experience


    • Rogelio Castillo 2
      Rogelio Castillo Jan 20, 2018 Link to comment

      the link doesnt work man.


      • Brett Hermance 3
        Brett Hermance May 2, 2019 Link to comment

        Link play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chappie92k.lite

        This is what i use. Its Old School Interface of Facebook and app is pretty good. Only 1-2 mb and use around 2mb ram. Make my phone lot faster plus basic Facebook experience

        Did you notice it was almost a year since that post? Link probably not exist anymore. Don't copy the word Link? I didn't check it because I don't want it. Good luck. :-)


  • David Spagnol 1
    David Spagnol Jul 18, 2017 Link to comment

    Swipe was great, then it started playing videos automatically and making it impossible to browse pages. Now it's unusable.


  • Randall Kowalik 1
    Randall Kowalik May 21, 2017 Link to comment

    It appears that the Swipe app has been abandoned by the developer. It immediately crashes on anything newer than a Galaxy S6.

    Oh, and "cookies?" ROFLMAO... too funny, AndroidPit.


  • Saif Samir 1
    Saif Samir Apr 25, 2017 Link to comment

    "Febu" is the only app I use for Facebook.


  • Tyler Anthony 1
    Tyler Anthony Apr 24, 2017 Link to comment

    Ive tried all of them and Friendly for FB is my favorite...But Swipe FB Pro and Maki Pro are both pretty good too...Simple for FB Pro is up and coming, and it might be the best after some new updates come along


  • Adnan Khan 1
    Adnan Khan Mar 2, 2017 Link to comment

    I used almost all. In my experience folio is top. And then puffin


  • Adnan Khan 1
    Adnan Khan Feb 21, 2017 Link to comment

    Try puffin for facebook. Equally good


  • Angela Jones 6
    Angela Jones Jan 29, 2017 Link to comment

    I uninstalled the fb and messenger app on my s7 edge ages ago through them being a battery hog. I use the Chrome browser plus Swipe Pro, and I don't have to install a separate Messenger app. I can copy and paste on this app quite well! I don't miss the official app at all! :)


  • Susan H. 1
    Susan H. Dec 20, 2016 Link to comment

    Do any of these facebook alternative apps allow you to do this:
    On facebook, click on the icon to add a picture to a post and be taken to a storage site (like google drive or dropbox) so I don't have to store my pictures on my phone?


  • Marianne Stebbins 2
    Marianne Stebbins Oct 23, 2016 Link to comment

    I've been using Metal for the past few months, but it's buggy. It refreshes every time I return from a link, so I can't comment on our share that link from FB.

    Rick Jenkins


  • Robert Schuster 1
    Robert Schuster Jun 23, 2016 Link to comment

    The most of them watch out to get power and money. The social networks are overloaded with content like Facebook where the real content is hard to find. How about this new site we use now: conint.org


  • Eleazar Parham 4
    Eleazar Parham May 18, 2016 Link to comment

    Does metal say when you have a new message? I've been searching for an app like that so I can ditch messenger as well


    • 7
      Deactivated Account Jan 26, 2017 Link to comment

      Try Friendly for Facebook. Its best i used so far. You can also replace messenger with it. Its really an amazing app.

      Deb Kline


      • Susan M 2
        Susan M Feb 9, 2017 Link to comment

        Go on New Tab and copy past link
        Best app for Facebook
        Link : play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.redfish.bestappforfacebook


  • Subhojit Em 1
    Subhojit Em May 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Looks like Facebook/Google has removed Swipe. Apkmirror apks install but cannot login.


    • Jeffrey Sera 1
      Jeffrey Sera May 7, 2016 Link to comment

      It's back on the Play Store. :)

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