Facebook Connect is an absolute boon for iPhone developers who want an easy way to add a social layer to their apps. And the service is great for users because it allows them to use the social elements of apps without having to create yet another account with yet another service. It’s a win-win — except when it goes down. As it has today.
Based on several tips and various bitching around the web, it’s pretty clear that Facebook Connect for the iPhone has been broken since yesterday. This of course is a huge problem when a lot of apps rely on the service for their apps to function. Various users are reporting seeing this error when trying to login to an app via Connect:
Under Construction
APP NAME is under construction.
Note to application developers:
To fix this error, please set your Connect URL in the application settings editor. Once it has been set, users will be redirected to that URL instead of this page after logging in.
A thread on Facebook Platform Developer Forum features several pissed off developers explaining the problem in detail. Apparently, some people are able to login, but when they try do anything, nothing works.
I’ve contacted Facebook for the official word on what is going on and will update when I hear back.
Update: A Facebook Platform team member, Matt Trainer, has just responded in the forum:
Thanks for the reports. We are aware of the bug and are investigating now. We will follow up in the bug report.
Update 2: Here’s the statement I got from Facebook:
“There was a small bug that prevented users from logging in to Facebook Connect for iPhone apps for a short period of time. We expect it to be back up momentarily.”
A day hardly seems like a short period of time, but at least it will be working again soon.
Facebook is working on my iPhone.
Facebook or Facebook Connect?
I have received an error from socialmedian.com today when I have attempted to log into the site with Facebook Connect. Doesn’t seem too disruptive as I can still clip stories and interact!
“various bitching around the web”
People need to have patience. If you want it done “right” do it yourself. Otherwise quit your bitching if something is temporarily having problems.
Actually, just read the thread you linked to… the developers didn’t seem pissed off or complaining, they seemed quite understanding and patient.
Down since yesterday is hardly a small bug.
Who cares how understanding the developers are.
The interesting take is don’t create a business plan that relies on unreliable third parties, facebook has proven to be self interested, just like apple.
I tested my app that uses FB Connect and got an error after logging in about a page not being found. There was a button to return to the previous page – after clicking this my app worked and interacted with FB Connect as usual.
Facebook has been buggy for the last week or two. Must’ve hired some developers from Twitter…
How is this bad for anyone but facebook? For the first time those users might actually use their iphones to place a phone call to a real friend or family member.
It’s bad for developers who depend on Facebook Connect. Some of them have developed apps that depend on Facebook Connect working.
The whole Connect/OpenID thing is a bit of a double edge sword for developers.
So, I pawned the pain off to the awesome people over at JanRain – let them deal with these moving targets. They’re the pros in the open login arena — I’m not.
It is hilarious how a program down for one day can cause such a commotion in the tech world. I bet Facebook’s phones were ringing off the hook, wouldn’t be surprised if people just walked out.