Gallery: The 6 Facebook Timeline Apps to Check Out First
01mg-1122-660x440
Making good on a promise it made last year, Facebook unlocked its "Open Graph" floodgates on Wednesday evening, allowing developers large and small to submit apps for integration with the new Timeline interface. What does that mean for you? In essence, you'll most likely be seeing a whole bunch of new verbs in your friends' activity feeds, far beyond the usual "likes" you're used to. You could witness your friends "run," "listen" or "eat" things, depending on the apps they've used to record activity. With more than 60 new application partnerships at launch -- and potentially thousands more to come with open sign-ups now available to developers -- how are we to sort the wheat from the chaff? Which apps are actually worth using through Timeline? Fret not. We've tested a number of the apps, and decided which ones work best with the new Timeline integration -- so you need not waste time with the ones that aren't worth your trouble. *Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com* [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
02mg-1246
Foodspotting ------------ Fine food and wine is amazing. Pictures of said items clogging my Instagram feed, however, are not. It's cool to post a Fatburger shot here and there, but please people, I'm not your diet coach. Thankfully, Foodspotting attempts to solve this problem. Yes, it's an app devoted to sharing pictures of food. But the app is devoted specifically to sharing meal photos, so at the very least, you'll be able to compartmentalize your food porn into small, bite-sized portions. With Foodspotting's integration into Facebook Timeline, now every instance of the dishes you dig will show up in a *curated* section of your Timeline -- sequestering these images, so your larger data stream won't be populated with random candids of candy. *Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com* [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
03airbnb-android-app
Airbnb ------ You're going on vacation and need a place to stay. Motel 6 is nasty, and the Hilton -- while swank -- is far too cookie-cutter. So when Airbnb appeared on the tech startup scene, we loved the idea. It takes the notion of the mom-and-pop-operated bed and breakfast, and brings it to the masses, literally letting anyone rent out his or her place to others. Just post pics of your crash-pad online, and eager travelers can see if they want to stay at your place. Airbnb, of course, takes a cut of your fee. Some houses are obviously better than others, which is where ratings come in. Talk up one place on Airbnb's new Timeline app, and others will follow. It's fancier than word of mouth, and with better visuals.
emma.fisher04pinterest11
Pinterest --------- Pinterest is hard to pin down, so to speak. It's essentially a web site for cool hunters, not unlike the highly exclusive fffound or even delicious in its heyday. As you browse through the myriad images you come across in your daily web traversing, Pinterest lets you "pin" the coolest images to your profile. Think of it as a cork board for your Timeline. It's a catch-all for crap you don't want to throw away, but don't know where to put. As your friends check out that weird dog picture on your page, they're able to comment and generate longer discussions in a Reddit-like thread. It's random. It's simple. And frankly, it's weird enough to be cool.
05healthgraph1-660x407
Runkeeper --------- New year's resolutions are loaded with good intentions. "I will lose weight. I will work out. I will stop sitting on my fat ass all the time." But before long, a new episode of *Cops* comes on, and we find ourselves reaching for the tub of Rocky Road. With Runkeeper's integration into Facebook, prepare to enter the age of public humiliation. Much like other fitness tracking devices like Fitbit and the Jawbone UP wrist band, Runkeeper's Timeline app keeps you accountable to your group of friends by keeping track of your fitness activity -- *in public*. So, if the extent of your day's exercise amounts to walking back and forth from the couch to the fridge multiple times, you'll have to deal with that shame online. Sound like fun? Probably not. But, at the very least, we'll be motivated to get ourselves to the gym.
06goodreads-logo
Goodreads --------- For the lit snob in all of us, Goodreads brings the prestige of your household bookshelves to the forefront of your Timeline. Basically an online catalog of all the books you've read, Goodreads lets you track your literary exploits online, leaving space for personal reviews and starred recommendations for each title. Friends and strangers can browse your virtual shelves and follow your lead if they wish (or, alternately, critique your awful taste in Harlequin romance novels). We've loved Goodreads since the web site launched a few years ago. After all, it's hard enough to get through a copy of Joyce's *Ulysses*, let alone subtly name-drop the book in conversation. The new app makes it so you don't have to worry about the latter.
07grockit
Grockit ------- We've liked the idea of Grockit since it popped up on our radar months ago. With Grockit, tackling your GRE studying workload doesn't mean sitting in cafes drinking bad coffee while making flash cards with friends. Instead, you're able to collaborate online and work on problems via web-based blackboards. It's a novel approach to group studying dynamics. First, a disclaimer: Grockit’s Timeline integration doesn’t boast a cavalcade of new, fancy features outside of badge-like promotions. It’s mostly about posting how often you’ve studied, how many questions you’ve answered correctly, and the like. It's all about bragging rights. However -- and this is a big however -- it also carries the ability for friends to join and create study rooms using Grockit’s web app, linked from inside of Facebook. That means if you’re in a Grockit room and studying, your Facebook pals can see as much and decide to join you. That leads to far greater ease of collaboration, and a far greater likelihood that you'll actually have study buddies when it comes time to crack the books.
