On Monday, TechCrunch uncovered what is believed to be Facebook's official iPad app, barely hidden within the code of its iPhone app. But it appears Facebook has blocked access to the clandestine app.
Multiple sources are reporting that Facebook has plugged the hole that allowed users to sneak into the tablet version of the app, which was written using HTML5. TechCrunch says the app is still available for those that had accessed it before Facebook closed it, but the app functions in a more limited manner.
For example, TechCrunch's MG Siegler, who first discovered the alleged app, says he is "still able to click around the app, though certain things (like notifications) are acting strangely or not functioning at all." For those that weren't able to sneak in through this back way before Facebook barred the door, the app will supposedly launch, only to turn users away at the login screen.
Facebook's glaring lack of an official iPad app is a bit strange considering its iPhone app is the App Store's most downloaded app of all time. It's been about a year and a half since Apple first launched the iPad, and the absence of an official iPad app made by the social network has allowed third-party developers come in and fill the void with apps like Friendly and iFace. These unofficial apps have been some of the most popular iPad apps in the App Store.
Facebook hasn't commented on the discovery, and it's unclear whether this is actually the iPad app it plans to launch.
Talk about a Facebook iPad app started up earlier this summer when the New York Times' Nick Bilton claimed Facebook would launch its iPad apps in "the coming weeks."