Category Archives: Facebook Mobile Applications

by by Majestic Media

Facebook Makes Ringmark Open Source.

In an apparent attempt to encourage mobile development Facebook has open sourced their HTML5 test suite .  One of the main advantages of Ringmark is that it allows developers to see instantly whether their apps will be able to run on any mobile browser.  This is particularly important for developers as the mobile market continues to grow and mobile browser capabilities become more fragmented.

When Facebook initially released Ringmark there were just over 400 tests for developers. By open sourcing Ringmark any developer can provide tests and add to the platform .  By improving Ringmark Facebook hopes to enourage not only developers but also mobile browser vendors to improve their products.

Facebook has increasingly been trying to encourage developers to utilize HTML5 for mobile apps.  This may be due to the fact that Facebook is unable to monetize native iOS or native apps.   With Facebook’s huge and growing base of mobile users it is extremely important that they not only monetize mobile users but provide those users with a rich experience. Facebook engineer Matt Kelly wrote in the blog post announcing the news:

“For those that are building with the web today, it’s a major hurdle to learn native technologies like Objective-C and Java. We hope that an improved mobile web can unlock a large contingency of developers that could, and will, be developing for mobile.”

by by Majestic Media

Shoebox Intergrates Timeline In To It’s App


Shoebox, an already extremely popular mobile app allows users to scan, tag photos and share them from their mobile phones.  However now Shoebox is becoming one of the first apps to integrate the use of the Timeline in to its functionality.  The new iOS will allow users to add older photos to Facebook and they will be placed in the correct chronological position on the users Timeline.

The app will still feature all of the old functions such as allowing users to add what may have been written on the back of the photo and the ability to crop flatten and rotate the picture.

With the new Timeline feature becoming mandatory for all Facebook users, it is almost certain that we will begin to see more  App developers taking advantage of this feature in creative ways.  The app is currently available here, an android version is set to be released shortly.

by by Majestic Media

Facial Recognition App Released

Face.com has officially launched a facial recognition app for the iPhone. The “Klick“app will identify the subject of the photo either before or after you take the picture .  Face.com utilized their already existing facial recognition software in conjunction with Facebook to make the Klick app function.   The app must be synched with the user’s Facebook account in order to work.  When the user takes a photo the facial recognition software will compare the photo to that of your friends on Facebook and when it finds a match, it’ll display the name.   If the person you are photographing is not currently one of your Facebook friends, you will have the option to tag that individual and future photos will display their name.  By default, the name will not appear in the final photograph but the user does have the option to include it.  The app in addition to the facial recognition will have various options such as the ability to share the photo on Facebook, Twitter, email or through Klick itself.  The app will also feature ways for users to creatively alter their photos to make them appear more artistic, in a similar manner to Instagram.

There are many possibilities for facial recognition on the Facebook platform.  Many users have been quietly clamoring for auto tagging since Facebook’s initial failed attempt at implementing this feature.  If Facebook was able to reach an agreement with Face.com to utilize their software this would certainly become a viable option.  It would also allow app creators a plethora of new options when designing apps.

by by Majestic Media

Access Facebook Apps on Your Mobile Device

Facebook has announced that they have now enabled the use of applications via mobile devices.  Moving forward, it will be possible to detect and show a mobile version of a Facebook application on smartphone handsets (including the iPad and tablet devices). With over 350 million people using Facebook on a mobile device each month, these new changes will allow users to interact with various aspects of their platform that were previously inaccessible.

The key to this new mobile accessibility is HTML5. It provides a seamless experience across iOS, Android and other mobile devices. Looking ahead, developers and marketers should no longer just be thinking about their application working across all web browsers, but should also focus and place additional emphasis on making their app work on mobile devices and tablets.

Now that Facebook has brought their social channels to mobile, they’ve helped to encourage and provide a deeper social engagement to users. The social channels currently available through mobile are Bookmarks, Requests, and the almighty News Feed. You can now click on the links provided within these channels and be directed to a mobile version of the application.

Bookmarks on Mobile
Bookmarks are a very important feature of Facebook.  The assist in encouraging users to re-visit your application. Once a user has interacted with your app on Facebook, a link to that application will automatically be saved on their main navigation bar for easy access. When users click the bookmarks shown on the navigation menu, they will be shown the mobile version of the application.

Requests Dialogue for Mobile When users invite their friends to an application, they are sent notifications called requests. Previously, users were unable to access these links via their mobile devices. Facebook has changed this, and users are now able to visit the mobile version of the app by simply clicking the link displayed. This is very similar to the bookmark feature where the users can tap the request and be directed to the mobile version of the application.

The Almighty News Feed
Users have previously been able to view all of their news feed stories from their mobile device, including those from applications, but they have not been able to comment or interact with them in any way…until now.  Just like links displayed within Bookmarks and Requests, if a user sees a story about a particular application within their news feed, they can now click on the link and view the mobile optimized version of the app.

New Feature: Authenticated Referrals
Along with the opportunity to view applications from your mobile device, Facebook has introduced a new feature called “Authenticated Referrals”. What this means is, if a user is visiting your application for the first time (and has landed on your app through a news feed, or request link) that user will be required to login/authenticate an app, just as they would if they went to the application for the first time on the web. Upon login, they will provide any permissions the app requests. Utilizing this feature enables us to know who is visiting the application and also enhance the app experience.   Essentially, this will not only provide great insights as to who is using the app, but also give the opportunity to provide a more personalized experience to users.

Since accessing Facebook Platform apps through mobile devices is still in development, they will slowly be unveiling new features as more knowledge is gained. It’s a technologically driven world we live in and almost everything can be done on a mobile device.  Facebook has recognized this need amongst its users and has now provided a solution to help us increase social engagement with our apps!