Facebook Home has reportedly surpassed 500,000 downloads on Google Play store despite poor ratings and reviews, according to Forbes.
Facebook developed and launched its new Home app, which replaces the user interface of select high-end smartphones, earlier this month, April 12 in the U.S. and April 16 worldwide. The launch event conducted at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters featured the app and described it as more "than an app." Facebook Home did not do very well with the users heavily criticizing the app and gave a poor 2.2 rating on the Google Play store. With such a poor review, it's quite an accomplishment for Facebook to cross 500,000 downloads in less than ten days.
The news of Facebook Home surpassing 500,000 downloads was first reported by Consultant Benedict Evans through his Twitter account which said; "Facebook Home has just passed 500k downloads on Google Play." Facebook, however, has not made any official announcement about the download figures. Moreover, Google Play does not give a precise number other than just giving a range of download from "500,000-1,000,000."
Facebook Home was given the lowest 1 star rating by 5,832 users out of the total number of users who rated the app (11,292). More than 50 percent of users who gave the lowest rating complained about the heavy battery consumption and that it was too over the top. Despite the low rating on Google Play, more than 2,000 users said that Facebook did a commendable job with its new invention. They felt the Home app saved a lot of time navigating and was pretty fast and smooth.
Facebook may not be surprised with this number given its history of previous apps like Instagram and Angry Birds, which crossed five million in less than a week. But still the limitation of Facebook Home may be the reason for half a million downloads. The Home app is currently available only on Android and limited to few high-end smartphones including HTC One, HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S4.
