App of the Week: Facebook Pages app

If you have a Facebook page for your business - and please tell me you do - and if you have ever tried managing that page from within the Facebook app for iPhone, you know how frustrating that can be.

Never fear, Facebook has released a Facebook Pages app. In its early stages still, the app is ideal for those who manage multiple pages, manage pages for multiple businesses, or just for companies that don't want employees using personal accounts on work devices.

The app looks almost identical to the standard Facebook app. To log in, you have two options: go in via the standard app, or go through a separate webpage if you don't want to use your personal account.

Once inside, you can post status updates and photos, receive notifications if someone has liked or commented on your page, filter and view specific posts or page members, and view insights and admins. You can even ban people with a simple left-to-right swipe if needs be.

You can't manage admins or messages in the app, which is only a minor inconvenience really since most people won't be using this as their main management tool. Even so, I'm sure it will show up in an update before too long, especially once the app is available on iPad as well.

As yet the app isn't available on either iPad or Android devices, but I'm sure they won't be too far away.

While it's not yet at the 'must have to make life easier' stage, this little app is helpful and easy to use and I'm sure will improve with time. Give it a whirl and see what you think.