9

We would like to allow users to signup for our site with their Facebook credentials. We'd also like to read the user's location during signup, for which FB now require approval.

Obviously, we can't launch the site until users can signup, but FB won't approve the app until they've tested the login. I'm obviously missing something because this is a bit of a Catch 22 scenario...

(this was kind of asked here: How to go through facebook review process on existing site with high traffic?, but not answered for the case beyond simple login)

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Paul
  • 494
  • 5
  • 8
  • Can't you run in [sandbox mode](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20589213/how-to-enable-disable-sandbox-mode-in-facebook-app) ? – Nir Alfasi Aug 15 '14 at 22:03
  • 1
    Can ordinary users login to the app in test mode? I thought only designated developers/testers/etc could login in sandbox mode? – Paul Aug 15 '14 at 22:22
  • I'm pretty sure that *anybody* can access a sandbox app - but it's been a while before I last tested it – Nir Alfasi Aug 15 '14 at 23:30
  • No if a user isn't granted some kind of access in the developer console, they can't login to my app. – Paul Aug 17 '14 at 22:57
  • and you believe that FB testers are incompetent and won't grant themselves permissions to review your app on sandbox ? (you might be right - I have no idea...). – Nir Alfasi Aug 18 '14 at 01:39
  • 3
    I think we're straying off topic here. The point of my question is that FB won't approve the app until they've tested it, but I'm not going to deploy it until it's approved - so how do FB approve something that's not deployed, or how do I deploy something in such a way that regular people don't get errors? – Paul Aug 18 '14 at 03:51
  • Paul, were you able to find the answer? – Leo Dec 17 '14 at 20:15
  • No but, everything seems to work OK though - at least for now, and/or for minimal permissions. Nothing has been turned off. It seems you can still request a more controlled permission (such as location), and get it, if the user approves it. We're only using FB for login credentials, so we've modified our signup process a little to cope with the situation where user's don't give us something. Maybe FB are trying to be more Apple-like with the review process, but have to deal with the legacy way they have things set up. – Paul Dec 18 '14 at 17:38
  • Just had my app approved by FB - send them a simulator build of your app. – bobo2000 Jul 13 '15 at 20:36

1 Answers1

3

Facebook reviews apps, in your case, the user_location permission, by seeing how your app is using the permission through test users. If there's a test user that works for you, please submit with these credentials, step by step instructions as well as detailed screenshots so reviewers can replicate this process. Once the review team understands how your app is using this permission, your app can now pull ANYONE'S location. You can read more about test users here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/test-users

*edit

Thanks for clarifying. Technically, your app doesn't have to be "live." It just needs full functionality and real-environment UI and able to demonstrate how it is using the Facebook's permissions. Instead of submitting it onto the iTunes store, Facebook also reviews your app through a sim build: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ios/creating-ios-simulator-build-for-review. Once this is approved, then deploy your app. This way, your users won't have a bad experience. I hope that answers your question. If not, let me know where you're unclear and I'll try to clarify.

kylietramle
  • 111
  • 5
  • 1
    Thanks for the answer, but that's not really the question. I understand their review guidelines, and what they're doing. What was the Catch22 was that they can't review the app until it's production, but I don't want to release something that might fail their review. It's like submitting an app to Apple AND releasing it at the same time, then having 1,000 people install it, THEN apple decide to reject my app. I can live with a review policy, but how do I do it without risking pain for my real users? – Paul Nov 11 '14 at 00:18
  • Sorry, I think I just confused you more. The itunes example was just an analogy, this isn't about reviewing a mobile app. The problem is the FB app DOES have to be live for Facebook to test it. If it's not running in production, FB can't evaluate it. That's the Catch 22 - they can't test it unless it's production, but I don't want to have something in production that might be rejected. – Paul Nov 11 '14 at 03:28
  • Sorry I'm not much help. Let me tell you everything I know: If your app is a website/canvas/page tab, you can have a staging and a live link. Facebook reviews based on app ID, not the site's URL so this is one way that developers use to avoid this issue. Let me know what else I can help you with. – kylietramle Nov 11 '14 at 18:22