Facebook iPad App Finally Out in Apple Store

It took almost two years, but Facebook has finally launched its much anticipated app for the iPad, packed with the social network giant's newest features and perks.

Since the iPad tablet was launched a year and eight months ago, its users have been using a free app called MyPad to access their Facebook and Twitter accounts on their tablets.

While it comes with many of Facebook's features like newsfeed, chat, profile, and messaging, the app never quite felt like the real Facebook that millions had grown accustomed to on their computers and iPhones.

The long, hard wait, however, has come to an end. On Monday, Facebook launched its official iPad app as a part of the company's push to capture a dominant presence on mobile devices.

Here are some of the top Features of the new app:

Bigger, better photos: Photos appear bigger and in high-resolution with easy to flip and rotate features in the photo album function. Videos can also be viewed in full screen mode.

Fast navigation: Just tap, slide or pinch to travel back and forth between one screen and another in no time.

Play games on the go: Play your favorite Facebook games wherever you are, and on a bigger screen.

Less is more: With fewer features on the screen at a time, the new Facebook allows you to zoom in and out of photos, updates and stories more smoothly.

Never lose your place: Use simplified navigation to send a message, see your notifications or browse your bookmarks without switching screens.

Tap to send messages: A simple dropdown menu makes it easy to scan and send messages without visiting your inbox.

See who's nearby: Check out the Nearby map to see what your friends are up to.

Use your fingertips to scroll through your News Feed. Give the screen a swipe to page through albums. Pinch a picture to zoom in, Leon Dubinsky, a software engineer at Facebook, suggested for the app's users in a blog post.

Although The Facebook iPad app has been in the making for some time, the company had a dispute with Apple over a deal to further integrate Facebook into the next version of Apple's Operating System, iOS 5, according to The New York Times.

Both Facebook and Apple declined to comment on the negogations, and the only news that came of the application were rumors and hearsay that led to an anticipated week-on-week-out release of the app.

While the new app is out, users cannot use Facebook Credits to pay for virtual goods on IOS apps. Instead, they would have to buy separate in-app currency through Apple's own in-app payment system. The move came after Facebook just required all of its game developers to switch to exclusive use of Credits earlier this year, according to News.com.au.