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Facebook's Enhanced Developer App Review and Graph API 3.0 Now Live

May 1, 2018ByKonstantinos Papamiltiadis

As we shared in today's F8 keynote, we're re-opening app review, a process that Facebook uses as a way to help ensure the best possible Facebook experience for your app's audience. We made several updates to the review process that enables stronger enforcement of our Platform Policies.

Our primary focus is building tools for the ecosystem while creating value for people. As such, we're re-opening our app review with a heightened level of expectations as we're doubling down on our commitment to transparency and giving people more control over how their data is shared.

Developers familiar with our previous app review process should be aware of the following changes.

  • App developers requiring certain API permissions will be required to verify their business and sign a supplemental terms contract. This contract introduces additional security requirements and other provisions around data. Businesses can be verified by providing forms of documentation including utility bills, business licenses, certificates of formation, articles of incorporation, tax ID numbers, and others.
  • Any business who builds with the Facebook platform to serve other businesses as a third-party tech provider must also sign an additional contract. The tech provider contract restricts the usage of data for the sole purpose of servicing the customer on behalf of whom the data is collected. Large customers using third-party tech providers may be subject to app review and may be required to sign the supplemental terms.
For existing apps, a new app review is required by August 1, 2018 in order to maintain approved status. Due to changes to the review process and the high volume of submissions expected, it may take several weeks for submitted apps to complete review.

We're committed to building for people and businesses. We understand that a rigorous app review process can require additional work on your part, but we believe these changes are necessary to maintain trust in our ecosystem. We'll continue to evolve the app review process to improve the experience for you, while maintaining the high expectations people have for Facebook connected apps.

Development Mode Update

As part of these app review enhancements, and to improve the development cycle, we are also changing the behavior of development mode. For apps in development mode, API calls will return user data only for those with a role in the app (i.e., admin, developer, or tester). This applies to the Facebook Profile, Pages, and other APIs.

Introducing Graph API 3.0

Today, we're launching Graph API v3.0 with the following updates.

Places Graph

  • Places Graph endpoints now return a new type of Place ID. Please refer to the updated Places Graph documentation to learn how these new IDs work. Older versions of the Graph API will return the old type of IDs until August 1, 2018.
  • The /photos?type=uploaded endpoint, which returns photos a Place has uploaded, will no longer be available. Older versions of the Graph API will return uploaded photos until August 1, 2018.

Other Resources

For a full list of the Graph API v3.0 updates, please read the Graph APIs v3.0 Changelog. You can use the API Upgrade Tool to see if your app will be impacted by any version changes. Be sure to check how much longer we will be supporting the version of the Graph API you are running.


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