Platform Updates: Operation Developer Love

Easier notification controls for users

We're introducing a way for users to opt out of notifications from apps, groups, or other sources (photos, etc.) directly from the notifications drop down menu. People have always been able to opt out on the Notifications Settings page, but this update makes it easier.
People will see more notifications from the apps, groups and features they engage with most, and none from those they choose to remove. For app developers, a less cluttered drop down menu means that notifications from high quality apps will stand out more. Early results have shown that apps that send high quality notifications have seen a lift to click-through and revenue with this update.
You can monitor and improve your opt-out rate for notifications with a new dashboard in Insights. This does not change the way users receive updates from apps through channels like news feed and App Center.

Updates to the Javascript SDK

As announced in May, we have updated the Javascript SDK to limit the publicly exposed interface. This is part of an ongoing process to improve the reliability of the SDK. We have removed access to all internal properties and to methods prefixed with _.
If you are currently relying on accessing internal properties, please refactor this so that you only rely on the publicly available (and officially supported) methods listed at https://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/javascript/.
Note that all methods not listed as part of the public API might be subject to change or removal, and you should not use them directly.

July 5th 2012 Breaking Changes

Removing FB.Canvas.setAutoResize - Originally scheduled for January 1, 2011
We have renamed FB.Canvas.setAutoResize to FB.Canvas.setAutoGrow so that the method more accurately represents its function. FB.Canvas.setAutoResize will stop working on July 5th. We will completely delete the function on August 1st.
Event GETs from Graph API/FQL Will Require an Access Token
All calls to get events from the Graph API or FQL will now require an access token to be used.
Removal of FBML
FBML apps will no longer work on Platform. All FBML endpoints will be removed and the "FBML Removal" migration added June 6th will be removed.

September 2012 Breaking Changes (90-day notice)

The following changes can all be enabled/disabled using September 2012 Breaking Changes migration (will be available in the next 7 days) until September 5th when they will go into effect permanently for everyone:

Removing Live Stream plugin
The Live Stream plugin will be removed on September 5, 2012. We recommend using the Comments Box plugin instead. Please migrate your app as soon as possible. On September 5th, if your app is still using the Live Stream plugin, we will render the Comments Box plugin in its place. While it offers similar functionality, there are a few functional differences. Please see the Live Stream plugin documentation for more info.
Renaming 'likes' property of Comments and 'votes' property of QuestionOptions
We will be renaming the likes property of the Comment object to like_count and the votes property of the QuestionOption to vote_count.
Minor change to admin.getAppProperties call
When making an admin.getAppProperties call, we will now return an empty iOS Bundle ID as [] instead of [""].
Returning actual size in photo_src table
We will start returning the actual size, height, and width of photos in the photo_src FQL table instead of the dimensions of the bounding box.

Bugs activity between Wednesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 20

• 167 bugs were reported
• 36 bugs were reproducible and accepted (after duplicates removed)
• 7 bugs were by design
• 17 bugs were fixed
• 73 bugs were duplicate, invalid, or need more information

Bugs fixed between Wednesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 20

• oauth dialog is completely broken
• no data scraped, can't like, can't set as website for app
• Very slow API response time
• Send Dialog: send button disabled in Firefox
• Like Box width too wide
• can't select "Native Android App" option
• Comment plugin for mobile users does not fold out more comment
• Send button on FB.ui dialog can be pressed with 'To:' form empty
• Any Page Tab App shows CSS instead of content or asks to download page_proxy.css
• credits dispute notification emails have stopped being sent.
• OpenGraph built-in action 'required' but lacking flexibility
• Comments report shows 0 comments on insights after may 9th.
• Allow Pages To Comment On Comments Plugin
• not able to post comments on content using only publish_actions permission
• using the "offer" pay dialog breaks FB.Canvas.getPageInfo
• FB.login dialog will hung after click 'Log In' in IE.
• Social Plugins Applications selector to short

Activity on facebook.stackoverflow.com between Wednesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 20

• 475 questions asked
• 340 questions with a score of 0 or greater
• 123 answered, 36% answered rate
• 213 replied, 63% reply rate

Bringing Like to Mobile

People share content on the web every day using the Like button. While this has been a key part of how people share, mobile apps have not been able to integrate the functionality. Now they can.
The new Open Graph built-in like action makes it easier for people to share content from your app. While the Like button is a great way to let friends share content from the web back to Facebook, the like action enables you to build your own like buttons for your mobile or web app and drive distribution across Facebook.
You can use the new like action to implement your own like button for a more integrated experience with your app on web and mobile platforms, as Instagram and foursquare have done.
When a person likes their friend’s story via the new like action, a notification is sent to the friend. For example, if a person likes the photo their friend posts on Instagram, the friend will get a notification.
As with the Like button, like stories are presented and aggregated in News Feed, similar when someone clicks the Like button.
Unlike the Like button, people must authorize your app to publish like stories. Continue to use the Like button to make it easy for anyone who visits your website to share content back to Facebook. Similarly, use the Like button when you want to make it easy for anyone to like your Facebook Page.
To use the new like action, follow the below guidelines and policies:
• Starting today we will no longer approve custom like actions. Apps that currently use a custom like action must migrate to use the built-in like action in the next 90 days. We have updated the Platform Roadmap to reflect this change.
• A like may only be published when a person performs a like action. For example, if someone gives a movie a five-star rating in a movie app, that warrants a rated action rather than a like action.
• For more guidance on creating your own like buttons, please see our branding guidelines.
To learn more about using the new like action, please see our documentation on Built-in Like.

Introducing subscriptions and local currency pricing

Today, we’re announcing two updates to our payments product: subscriptions and local currency pricing.
New ways to monetize with subscriptions
Many developers successfully monetize their apps with one-time purchases of virtual items. Beginning in July, we are launching subscriptions as another way for you to build your businesses on Facebook. With subscriptions, you can establish a recurring revenue stream and offer updated content or premium experiences for a monthly fee.
This new feature will be available to to all Facebook.com and mobile web apps in July. In the meantime, you can get started by reviewing our documentation and signing up for more details. Subscriptions are already being tested by developers such as KIXEYE and Zynga.
KIXEYE’s Backyard Monsters will start testing an offer of exclusive items for $9.95 per month. Price in-app items with local currency
Since we introduced Credits in 2009, most games on Facebook have implemented their own virtual currencies, reducing the need for a platform-wide virtual currency. As a result, we are updating our payments product to support pricing in local currency (ex: US dollar, British pound and Japanese yen) instead of Credits.
By supporting pricing in local currency, we hope to simplify the purchase experience, give you more flexibility, and make it easier to reach a global audience of Facebook users who want a way to pay for your apps and games in their local currency. With local pricing, you will be able to set more granular and consistent prices for non-US users and price the same item differently on a market-by-market basis.
Transitioning to local currency
This transition will be seamless for your users on Facebook. Already, most people see items priced in their local currency in the payments flow. Additionally, we’ll convert any Credit balances into the equivalent amount of value in users’ local currency, which they can spend on in-app items in the same way they do today. People can still redeem gift cards and store unused balances in their account.
Subscriptions already uses local currency pricing, and we will release local currency support for in-app payments in the next few months. Any apps or games that sell virtual items will be required to use local currency by the end of the year. You can find out more details by reading the FAQ and signing up for the latest information. Throughout these updates, our underlying payments product, along with support for global payment methods, and policies will remain the same.
We hope new features like subscriptions and local currency pricing help you monetize more effectively and reach more users globally. We’ll continue to share updates in the developer blog.

Toronto HACK Winners

Over 120 developers joined us last Saturday for our first HACK in Toronto. We presented information on our developer tools and APIs. Attendees shared ideas and brainstormed before splitting into teams. Six hours of hacking later, we paused for dinner and socializing before the demos and awards.
While there were many great submissions, the winners are:

• Best Social Game: Marble Solitaire
  Marble Solitaire, a game for iOS, combined a sleek UI with easy sharing that encourages people to invite their friends to play and post about their scores.
• Best Desktop App: Slideshow
  Slideshow analyzes photos posted on Facebook for likes and comments, and selects the most popular for a slideshow that can be saved as a desktop screensaver.
• Best Open Graph Integration: Winespotting
  Winespotting is a mobile app that uses Open Graph to let people share stories about wines they're tasting. Users can take photos of what they're drinking, and automatically pull information about the wine and its rating to include in the story.
• Best Mobile App: Peer Pressure
  Peer Pressure is a social to-dos app that lets people create social consequences for not finishing important tasks. If tasks are left undone, the app posts a story to the user's timeline, prompting their friends to encourage or shame them.

It's exciting to see how the community is building awesome apps with our tools and APIs. We had a great time meeting hackers of all kinds, some who came with their app ideas fully formed, and others who simply wanted to learn from people around them.
We'll be out and about at more hacks in the near future, so stay tuned, and we hope you'll join us soon!