Category Archives: Facebook applications

by by Majestic Media

Facebook Alters App Rating System


It appears that Facebook has reconfigured the “rate apps” module as well as the “rate recently used apps” design.  The recently used app feature is displayed on canvas pages underneath the bookmark system.  Both interfaces allow users to rate apps on a five star system similar to the iOS app store.

 

This is not the first attempt by Facebook to encourage users to rate apps.  Facebook originally had a similar 5 star rating system which would appear any time a user visited a tab.  This was subsequently removed because it was easily manipulated and apps weren’t receiving accurate ratings.   With the new “rate apps” module, it appears that users don’t have control over which app they review.  It presents a random recently used app with the option to rate. This should eliminate the manipulation of the ratings.  The question now for app designers is what criteria need to be met in order to be displayed in the rating module?!

by by Majestic Media

Leveraging Open Graph Helped Trip Advisor App Grow 10 Fold

According to the Facebook Developers Blog Trip Advisors app, Cities I’ve Visited, has received ten times more users since switching to the Timeline format .  By using the open graph actions, Cities I’ve visited was able to make the app both more interactive and social.  Facebook Developers Blog stated,

“Cities I’ve Visited maps the frequent interactions people take — pinning a city and rating a place — to open graph actions to maximize the number of stories people publish. For new and existing users, Cities I’ve Visited encourages pinning cities and rating places to maximize sharing and generate stories. Cities I’ve Visited uses custom properties — such as location — to create interesting timeline aggregations like “total distance traveled” and “percent of world visited.”

The new open graph system is an important tool that must be considered when designing new apps.   The use of actions can be an effective way to engage users and have them publish your post  to their newsfeeds.   The added exposure of having users share their actions, will promote apps in an organic fashion.

by by Majestic Media

Facebook Canvas Apps Wont be Transferred to Pages


With the deadline for brands to convert to the Timeline format quickly approaching, developers of canvas apps need to be aware that they will not be automatically transferred to the new timeline format.  However, Facebook has made adding a tab application easier, Facebook released the following in their help section :

To add an app to your Facebook page, first go to the app about page for the app you’d like to add. If the app is available to be added to your page, you’ll see an add to page link on the lower left-hand column.

Note that certain apps may not be available for pages. If you have any questions about those apps, please use the contact developer link in the app’s about page to inquire.

by by Majestic Media

Apps To Receive New Functionality


Facebook’s developers blog announced that they would be implementing more actions within the app format.  Users will now have the ability to perform actions that are currently associated with page posts within an app.  Users will have the ability to add friends, locations or share photos without leaving the app.

  • Setting location on posts with Open Graph actions and objects or with stream publish stories.
  • Tag friends on posts with Open Graph actions or with stream publish stories.
  • Improved search for places including optional latitude, longitude, and distance parameters as well as support for finding posts from friends around a place.
  • Read posts with location using the FQL table location_post.

Developers will also be able to create apps that will display user generated photos or videos in the news feed or Timeline.

  • User generated photos – can be attached to actions and shown in a large format in news feed and timeline when the user_generated property is set
  • Inline video play

 

by by Majestic Media

New Auth Dialog Rolling Out


As Majestic Media previously reported, Facebook has been designing a new Auth dialog.  According to an article on the Facebook developer blog this improved dialog will launch in 5% of apps on Friday and on a more inclusive level over the next few weeks.

The new dialog will feature some key changes to help implement apps on the new open graph system.  The following are excerpts from the developers blog highlighting some of the key features of the new dialog:

Functionality
When we turn on the new auth dialog, we will also add some of the most frequently requested permissions to publish_actions to make the permission more robust and improve conversion. publish_actions now includes the ability to post status updates on the authenticated user’s own timeline, tag photos, publish photos and videos. Other actions such as posting to a friend’s timeline still require the use of publish_stream.
Adding these common permissions to publish_actions eliminates the need for extended permissions and the second screen of the auth dialog for the majority of timeline apps built with the Open Graph. This makes the auth process clearer to new users and should improve conversion rates. Additionally, approved Open Graph actions are no longer required for the publish_actions permission. Apps should only ask for the stream_publish permission if they absolutely need functionality not present in publish_actions.

New Button Copy:
In the enhanced auth dialog, the button text will be one of four cases: “Add to Facebook”, “Log in with Facebook”, “Go to App”, or “Play Game”. Each of these were extensively tested and showed that more specific calls to action help users better understand the auth process. As the first point of contact for an app, it’s important for the auth dialog to exhibit a great user experience.

App developers can choose to implement this fully by selecting to enable enhanced auth dialog in settings with the developers app.