<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><channel><title>Developer News</title><description> Get the latest news from Facebook for Developers </description><lastBuildDate>Thu, 01 Jun 2017 08:14:32 -0700</lastBuildDate><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/</link><item><title>Facebook Introduces Developer Circles</title><description>Announcing Developer Circles, a new program for developers all over the world to connect, learn, and collaborate with other local developers. </description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/facebook-introduces-developer-circles/</link><pubDate>Thu, 01 Jun 2017 08:15:23 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[The developer community has played a large role in Facebook's success to-date, and we continue to focus on giving back to startups, entrepreneurs, and developers to help them succeed. Today, at F8 we announced [Developer Circles from Facebook](https://developers.facebook.com/developercircles/), a new program for developers all over the world to connect, learn, and collaborate with other local developers. 

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**Driven by Local Communities**

Developer Circles is a community-driven program that's free to join and open to any developer. Each Developer Circle is led by members of the local community who act as leads for the circle, organizing events offline and managing a local online Facebook community. Developer Circles are forums to share knowledge, collaborate, build new ideas, and learn about the latest technologies from Facebook and other industry leaders. Whether a member of a circle is a student learning how to code, a developer looking to turn an idea into a reality, or an experienced coder searching for the latest Facebook product and open source tool updates, Developer Circles empowers a diverse range of technical talent to improve their skills and access the information they need. By fostering stronger communities and creating more technical awareness, our goal is to empower developers, similar to existing Facebook programs like [FbStart](https://developers.facebook.com/fbstart), which for the past several years has focused on helping early-stage startups succeed.

**Supported by Facebook**

Developer events, conferences, and hackathons take place everywhere. But we often hear that it’s hard to maintain the momentum, collaboration and knowledge-sharing in between events. With Developer Circles, in addition to hosting meetups and hackathons, each local circle will have a dedicated [Facebook Group](https://developers.facebook.com/developercircles/find) where members can continue the conversation between meetups. In Facebook Groups, developers can share code, links, videos, and anything else they would already share on Facebook. We are piloting Facebook Groups features with our Developer Circles communities, like social learning units comprised of sequential trainings that allow developers to deepen their knowledge on topics like React and Bots in Messenger. 

In addition to fostering online and offline community and collaboration, we want to help developers gain new skills. We are partnering with [Udacity](https://www.udacity.com/facebook), one of the largest online training platforms in the world, to launch custom Facebook training programs for our Developer Circles community, which will be available via Developer Circles Facebook Groups, our website, and on [Udacity](https://www.udacity.com/facebook).

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**Early Feedback**

While the Developer Circles program is still in its infancy, we’ve already seen early potential for the impact it can have on local developer communities.

Victor Hugo, a developer in Mexico City was working on a personal project with Bots in Messenger and was struggling with some technical integration issues. He found a solution to his problem at one of the Developer Circles workshops, and soon became more involved with the community and invited his friends to join. Victor now has a start-up that builds customer service chat bots for companies, and is backed up by a local tech accelerator. 

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Faten Ghriss, a Developer Circle Lead in Tunis, studied Computer Network and Telecommunication Science in Tunis, but it was a year spent as an exchange student in Minnesota, U.S. that made her realize she wanted to give back to the community. So she went back to Tunisia and co-founded Young Tunisian Coders Academy that teaches children to code. Faten first heard about Developer Circles at a conference she was speaking at and shortly after decided to start her own Circle and hosted her first meetup in March 2017. The meetup, focused on Bots in Messenger, had over 200 registrations, and based on polling the community she is organizing future meetups around virtual reality and machine learning. 

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**Get Involved**

People have found new job opportunities, connected to coding bootcamps, and received hands-on support for building with Facebook's developer products. With Developer Circles from Facebook now open to anyone around the world, we can't wait to bring more developer communities together. To join, simply head to: [developers.facebook.com/developercircles](http://developers.facebook.com/developercircles). ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>F8: Instant Games, Gameroom and Gaming Video Developer Updates </title><description>Games: Updates from F8 2017</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/games-updates-f8/</link><pubDate>Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:23:34 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[Facebook Games is focused on building a global community for people to play, watch and share the games they love with the people they care about. Today, we're providing updates that help developers build and grow their games  across mobile, desktop, and video platforms. Below is a snapshot of what we're announcing at [F8](https://www.fbf8.com/) focused on [Instant Games](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2016/11/30/instant-games-closed-beta/), [Facebook Gameroom](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/games/gameroom/) and [Gaming Video](https://www.facebook.com/live/create). 

## Instant Games
[Since our debut late last year](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2016/11/30/instant-games-closed-beta/), players are really enjoying Instant Games - our new HTML5 cross-platform gaming experience. More than 1.5B games have been played on Instant Games across Messenger and Facebook News Feed within the last 90 days. 

At F8, we introduced **rich gameplay features** to give developers more control of the gaming experiences they create.  Developers can customize their own start and end screens and integrate new APIs that can help drive share & connected gameplay. Rich gameplay features are laying the groundwork to support a wider variety of games that extend beyond the light-weight, score-based games currently offered on the platform.

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With the forthcoming Instant Games launch of *Words With Friends*, Zynga will allow players to share great in-game wordplay moments (or fails) directly within their Messenger threads. In addition, Blackstorm is releasing a new version of [EverWing](https://www.facebook.com/EverWingGame/) — one of the most popular titles on Instant Games. Powered by rich gameplay features, EverWing will make in-thread updates available in Messenger that give people a preview of what's happening in-game, which is especially useful for players who are deciding whether they should jump in a boss-raid that's already in progress.

We'll also begin to roll out a new **games tab** to make it even easier for players to discover games. Additionally, developers will be able to leverage **game bots** to create engaging ways for players to connect to their games through actions they take directly within a Messenger chat — even when they are not playing! 

Developers interested in the Instant Games platform that is currently available in closed-beta can [sign up here](https://fb.me/instantgamesdev).

## Facebook Gameroom 

Partnering with Unity, we [launched](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/03/31/facebook-unity-5-6/) the commercial release of the new Facebook build target in Unity 5.6 last month that allows Unity developers to streamline the deployment of their games to [Gameroom](https://www.gameroom.com/). Gamerom supports PC games optimized for native performance and Web games built via HTML5, WebGL or Flash technology. Available for Windows 7 and above, Gameroom currently has more than 1,000 games across 10+ different categories. We recently introduced [support for downloadable premium games](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/games/gameroom/premium), and we look forward to adding more games in the coming weeks and months. 
  
To allow more developers the opportunity to bring their games onto this emerging PC-gaming platform, we're rolling out a closed-beta of the new **Gameroom platform SDK** that will offer developers the flexibility to port games that are built in a variety of engines, including Unreal Engine, cocos2d and more. We're already working with developers like [High Voltage Software](https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/999515523455801) to bring their game *Dragon Front* onto the platform. Written using the Unreal engine, and originally an Oculus exclusive, a 2D version of *Dragon Front* will launch on Gameroom in the coming weeks. Developers interested in the Gameroom platform SDK closed-beta can [apply here](https://fb.me/gameroomSDK).

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We are also in the early stages of rolling out the new **Games Feed** in Gameroom that offers players a continuously updating list of stories that are 100 percent focused on games-related content. We want to improve discovery for game developers by helping people find out about different games they may enjoy, featuring studio-created posts, videos like producers' chats and general games news. 


## Gaming Video

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With our [recent announcement](https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/03/new-ways-to-go-live-now-from-your-computer/) to help people around the world broadcast live video to Facebook from their desktop, we are empowering people to easily bring their gameplay experiences to Profiles, Pages, and Groups. Our goal is to enable gamers and streamers to connect with each other and the games they love in more meaningful ways.

At F8, we're announcing that platform partners using the Live API will soon have the ability to share directly to Groups. With [XSplit](https://www.xsplit.com/) - a live streaming and video-mixing application by [SplitmediaLabs](https://www.splitmedialabs.com/), we're looking forward to the application's launch of the feature and how it will build new functionalities to existing Live API integrations. Building on our growing roster of professional esports teams streaming to Facebook Live, we're also pleased to recently welcome the Philadelphia 76ers' Team Dignitas as the latest pro team to engage and find new fans on Facebook.

## Game on
With the wide variety of new products and platforms tailored for games, we want to help developers get their games in front of over 1.86 billion people who connect to Facebook every month. 


]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>F8 2017: Building Communities with Technology</title><description>F8 2017 Roundup</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/F8_2017_Developer_Roundup/</link><pubDate>Wed, 19 Apr 2017 15:31:55 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[Today, more than 4,000 people joined us at our annual developer [F8 conference](https://www.fbf8.com/) in San Jose, California. 

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I'm excited to share all of the products and features that Facebook is building to help developer and businesses grow and engage their audiences:

[**Camera Effects Platform:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/Introducing-Camera-Effects-Platform/) The Camera Effects Platform turns smartphone cameras into the first augmented reality (AR) platform, providing an opportunity for artists and developers to create effects for the Facebook camera. Included with this new platform are two creative tools, Frame Studio and AR Studio, which give the Facebook community the power to create a full spectrum of camera effects, from simple frames to interactive AR experiences. This platform empowers artists and developers to connect art with data to bring AR into everyday life through the [Facebook camera](https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/03/more-ways-to-share-with-the-facebook-camera/). Today, we are putting the power of augmented reality in developers' hands.

[**Messenger Platform 2.0**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/messenger-platform-2.0/): A new suite of tools that gives you the ability to build better experiences
 in Messenger. Platform 2.0 highlights include:

* **Discover:** A new surface to help people intuitively browse and find the best bots, places and businesses in Messenger.
* **Chat Extensions:** This feature allows people to contextually bring a bot into a conversation and enable collaboration within a single bot session.
* **Parametric Messenger Codes:** Businesses can now generate multiple Messenger Codes for their bots and see which ones are being scanned the most.
* **Smart Replies:** Facebook Page admins can now turn on automatic replies powered by artificial intelligence.

[**Automated Insights for Facebook Analytics:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/facebook-analytics-new-features-f8/) Using advanced machine learning, Facebook Analytics now surfaces valuable insights to you automatically, helping you take action more quickly. With this new feature, we will surface insights in your dashboard, such as changes in purchase behavior over time or variations in engagement across people in different cities.

[**Identity:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/f8_connect_businesses_and_people/) [Facebook Login](https://developers.facebook.com/products/account-creation) and [Account Kit](https://developers.facebook.com/products/account-creation) released product enhancements to help businesses better connect with people by expanding availability to more surfaces, offering more ways to verify information, and modernizing the Facebook Login buttons. We also introduced new solutions that help you maintain those connections, including a secure way to recover customer accounts by confirming their identity without the need to share personal information or passwords. 

[**Developer Circles:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/facebook-introduces-developer-circles/) Developer Circles is a community-driven program to share knowledge, collaborate, build new ideas, and learn about the latest technologies from Facebook and other industry leaders.

[**Facebook Games:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/games-updates-f8/) Released new updates that help developers build and grow their games  across mobile, desktop, and video platforms.

* [**Instant Games:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/games-updates-f8/) Introducing rich gameplay features to give developers more control of the gaming experiences they offer. These features allow developers to build different types of experiences and utilize more screen space to incorporate things like Share & Connected Player APIs. Developers can post customized messages and create out-of-game features for players in Instant Games through game bots. 
* [**Gameroom Platform SDK:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/games-updates-f8/) Gameroom is Facebook's new desktop gaming platform with more than one thousand titles with games from more than ten different categories. The new Gameroom Platform SDK gives developers the opportunity to bring their games onto this emerging PC game platform. Developers now have the flexibility to port games that are built in a variety of engines, including Unreal Engine, Cocos2d and more.
* [**Games tab:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/games-updates-f8/) Rolling out a new games tab to make it even easier for players to discover games. Additionally, developers will be able to leverage game bots to create engaging ways for players to connect to their games through actions they take directly within a Messenger chat.

[**Places Graph:**](https://developers.facebook.com/products/places) With free access to data on over 140 million places around the world, we created Search, Current Place, and Place Information endpoints. You can now find places relevant to your consumers and receive helpful information about each place. The Places Graph gives you free access to the same data that powers Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. We've tied query limits to your user base and integrated with the Facebook SDK so it's easy to get started and scale quickly.

[**Graph API:**](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/graph-api-v2.9/) A host of new features to enable you to build an even richer app experience, along with tools to make development easier, including:

* [**Enhanced URL Engagement Counts:**](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/url?revisionid=656858311181833) We've expanded the types of engagement metrics you can view for any URL on the web. You can now view four distinct counts: reactions, comments, shares, and comments plugin. 
* [**Webhooks:**](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/webhooks/reference/) Facebook's subscription-based push service for apps. We've added versioning so developers can opt-in to new Webhooks features as they become available. 
* [**Read-After-Write API Calls:**](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/using-graph-api/#read-after-write) You no longer have to do a separate call to read an object after writing it.

[**Marketing API:**](https://developers.facebook.com/ads/blog/post/2017/04/18/marketing-API-2.9/) Releasing v2.9 of the Marketing API with enhanced features for Ads Creation & Management, Dynamic Ads, and Targeting. 

[**International Bug Support:**](https://developers.facebook.com/bugs) Bug support is now available in multiple languages starting with Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. More languages coming soon.

The full keynote and all other sessions from F8 will be made available throughout the day to watch on VOD so make sure you continue to check back in to [developers.facebook.com/videos](https://developers.facebook.com/videos). 

]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New Ways to Connect Businesses and People Globally</title><description>Connecting people and businesses globally - F8 2017</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/f8_connect_businesses_and_people/</link><pubDate>Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:52:56 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[We believe the success of a business lies in establishing solid connections with people. Today at [F8](https://www.fbf8.com/), we released [Facebook Login and Account Kit](https://developers.facebook.com/products/account-creation) product enhancements to help you better connect with people and engage them across different surfaces. We also introduced new ways to retain and recover customer accounts to maintain those relationships.

## Establish connections

Over the last year, we expanded Facebook Login to reach more people by supporting additional surfaces - [Facebook Lite, Chrome Custom tabs and TV](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2016/10/27/login-for-tv-and-android/). We also introduced [Instant Verification](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2016/12/20/introducing-instant-verification/) for Account Kit phone number login to remove friction from registration and to reduce reliance on SMS in areas where this is less reliable.

**Voice Call Verification**
<br> We are adding voice call phone number verification to Account Kit in 19 locales for people who don't receive their confirmation code via SMS to help them get through the flow easier and faster.

**Basic Web Support**
<br> If you are building an experience for parts of the world where browsers without Javascript support are popular, Account Kit now offers a [Basic Web SDK](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/accountkit/webbasic). We see major benefit for those using [Free Basics](https://info.internet.org/en/story/free-basics-from-internet-org/), and partners have already implemented this with success.

**Account Kit UI Customization**
<br> We've created an easier way to customize the UI for you to create a look and feel aligned with your brand. You can start by simply choosing a skin and tint information, supplying a primary color, and adding an optional background image. Check out the different design treatment of a sample app using the new skins which can be found in the latest SDKs for [iOS](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/accountkit), [Android](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/accountkit/android) and [Web](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/accountkit/webjs).

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**Improved Facebook Login Buttons**
<br> We now offer personalized buttons with customizable widths on web that read: “Continue as [name]”. This is available today on our [JS SDK](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/web) which will render the person's profile picture and name if they are logged into Facebook, and default to “Continue with Facebook” if they are not. [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/) has seen a 37% lift in Facebook sign-ups since implementing the new button on their desktop experience.

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We also modernized the Login buttons in native and JS SDKs with rounded corners, a color update, and the option to select “Continue with Facebook” or “Login with Facebook”. You can use the new Login buttons by simply upgrading your [native SDK](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ios/upgrading-4x) or [JS SDK](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/accountkit/webjs). Be sure to check that the size of the button is appropriate for your UI and changing the size specification in your code if you're using the JS SDK.

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## Maintain connections

We understand that maintaining a consistent connection with your customer is important for growing your relationship, so we are offering new solutions to help.

**More Insights**
<br> We added insights that will help you better understand how people are moving through your Account Kit sign-in flow within the [Facebook Analytics dashboard](https://www.facebook.com/analytics/?__aref_src=fba_marketing_site&__aref_id=header_link).

**Connecting with People Across Apps and Bots on Messenger**
<br> You can now recognize a Facebook-connected customer from your app to your bot on Messenger to create better customer experiences across the two channels. The details can be found in our [developer documentation](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/connecting-accounts).

This will help people have more delightful experiences like a movie-going night where everything from watching a trailer, buying tickets, to getting into the theatre can all be handled on your phone.

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**Express Login**
<br> When people change devices or download their apps again, they need to go through the sign-in process and often forget how they previously logged in. With this new Facebook Login feature for Android apps, you can check if the person signing in had previously done so using Facebook. If so, they are shown an in-app reminder to bypass going through the full sign-in flow. This feature is currently in closed beta and we'll keep you posted when we roll it out more broadly.

**Delegated Account Recovery**
<br> Another way in which you may lose contact with a customer is when they forget their password. [Delegated Account Recovery](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/delegated-recovery/) enables you to offer your customers the option to use their Facebook account as a way to verify who they are when they forget their password, lose their two-factor codes, or don't want to answer security questions based on personal information. You can read more about how this open protocol works in our [Protect the Graph blog](https://www.facebook.com/notes/protect-the-graph/delegated-account-recovery-now-available-in-beta/1875376806035795/).


We can't wait to see how you leverage these solutions to easily establish connections and grow relationships with your customers.

]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Workplace Announces New Integrations for Files, Bots, Compliance, and Live Video</title><description>Workplace F8</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/Workplace-F8-Integrations-Bots-Live-API/</link><pubDate>Wed, 19 Apr 2017 10:53:57 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[Today we’re announcing new integrations and partnerships for companies to improve their day-to-day workflows, ensure regulatory compliance and enable richer communication using Live video.

[Workplace](https://workplace.fb.com/) is a dedicated and secure space for companies to connect, communicate and collaborate. Organizations of all sizes can use familiar Facebook features such as News Feed, groups, messages and events to get work done. 14,000 businesses are using Workplace, on every continent including Antarctica.
 
## New Integrations

Files and documents are a critical part of daily work life. Our new [integrations](https://www.facebook.com/workplace/partners/) with some of the world's leading enterprise cloud services to make it easier to share, preview and organize files, documents, and work with customer records. With these integrations, we’re making it simpler for teams to share ideas and collaborate inside Workplace.   

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&nbsp;

## Build Custom Workflows with Bots

Bots have become a simple and powerful way for people to interact with services they use day-to-day. Starting today, Workplace customers can build bots that allow people to interact with other tools and services from within Workplace.

People can interact with Workplace bots in groups as well as in chat. In groups, you can @mention a bot to initiate a task or workflow. The bot can take action and reply back with relevant information. In chat, you can message a bot to request information or take an action. Bots can also start conversations to send you important notifications.

Our own teams have built over 100 bots to improve day-to-day workflows at Facebook. For example:

* Our recruiting team built a Work Chat bot that sends interviewers a notification 30 minutes before a scheduled interview with all the information they need to provide a great candidate experience. 
* Teams are quickly able to create tasks in our internal tool by mentioning a bot in group posts or comments. 
* When guests sign in at reception, a bot notifies the host so they can go and meet their guest. 

Here is an example of a bot a company could build to log a repair. 

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&nbsp;

To make it easy to build bots for Workplace,  we have a number of bot platform [partners](https://www.facebook.com/workplace/partners/) who are launching support for Workplace.

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## Security and Compliance Integrations

To help companies comply with industry regulations and manage business risk, we're announcing [partnerships](https://www.facebook.com/workplace/partners/) with several of the industry's leading cloud compliance, e-discovery and data loss prevention providers. 

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Companies with more specific business requirements can now subscribe to [webhooks](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/workplace/integrations/custom-integrations/webhooks) to manage activity on Workplace in real-time. 


## Workplace Live API

Live video is fundamentally changing how companies communicate. We've seen teams broadcast their weekly meetings, companies move training and webinars into Workplace and CEOs stream live Q&As to their entire workforce.

Sometimes, these events need higher production value than a smartphone can provide. So today, we're announcing support for streaming Live into Workplace over RTMP.

Because the Workplace Live API is based on the Facebook Live API, it's already supported by a wide range of [hardware and software encoders](https://www.facebook.com/workplace/partners).

Using this API, [BlueJeans](https://www.bluejeans.com/) are making it possible for their customers to stream fully-featured video meetings directly to Workplace.

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We're also announcing Live Production [Partners.](https://www.facebook.com/workplace/partners) These partners bring deep expertise in producing professional quality live streams.

##Getting started

Head over to [facebook.com/workplace](http://facebook.com/workplace) and get started with Workplace today. Then start building and improving workflows for your organization. You can find the technical documentation at: [developers.facebook.com/docs/workplace](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/workplace)]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Messenger Platform 2.0 Debuts at F8</title><description>Messenger Platform 2.0 Introduced at F8 2017 featuring Discover, Chat Extensions, and more</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/messenger-platform-2.0/</link><pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:17:10 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[Today at F8, we introduced Messenger Platform 2.0, a new suite of tools that gives you the ability to build richer experiences, get discovered, and extend the conversational, visual and social capabilities of your bots. With more than 1.2 billion monthly users and over 100,000 monthly active bots, we are focused on learning and building for our developers. 

Messenger Platform now includes:

* **Discover.** We've created a new surface to help people intuitively browse and find the best bots, places and businesses in Messenger. Discover showcases popular bots in our ecosystem, nearby places that people can message, and businesses that offer support or answer questions. Discover also includes categories such as Entertainment, News, Food & Drink and many more.  We encourage all bot developers to complete our [Discover](http://fb.me/messenger-discover) submission form today to ensure their details are up to date.
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* **Chat Extensions.** This new feature allows people to contextually bring a bot into a conversation and collaborate on creating shopping lists, ordering food, splitting payments, sharing music and other new and existing use cases. Chat extensions make a bot's UI accessible via the composer, where people can then share it into a 1:1 or group conversation. TriviaBlast, Spotify, Swelly and many more already offer these experiences. [Learn more](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/chat-extensions). 
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* **Parametric Messenger Codes.** Messenger Codes are a great tool to drive offline-to-online traffic to bots. With parametric versions, businesses can now generate multiple Messenger Codes for their bot and see which ones are being scanned the most. Separate codes can also be used to activate different bot functionalities when each is scanned. For instance, hardware devices can feature parametric codes to allow people to link their account and control the device. Restaurants can assign tables using different codes, giving their bot a way to know where food should be delivered. [Learn more](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/messenger-code).
* **Hand-over Protocol.** Businesses can now work with multiple developers to create different experiences within a single bot. With this hand-over protocol tool on our platform, various vendors and developers will be able to pass control back and forth based on the state of the conversation. For example, if you want to offer personal shopping services and customer support but each function is operated separately, everything (and everyone) can now work together in one bot. Note: This is currently available in limited release for select businesses. To learn more, contact your Facebook partner manager or representative.
* **Connecting people across apps and Messenger bots.** Today, bots in Messenger use Page-Scoped ID (PSID) and apps use App-Scoped ID (ASID), which creates two different IDs for the same person across your various communication channels. If you have an existing customer in Facebook and want to personalize your communication with them in Messenger, this API pairs the ASIDs and PSIDs between an app and a bot in Messenger belonging to the same business. [Learn more](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/psid-to-asid).

For more details about Messenger Platform 2.0, view our latest [changelog](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/changelog?__mref=message_bubble) and [documentation](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform).
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Introducing Graph API v2.9</title><description>Graph API v2.9</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/graph-api-v2.9/</link><pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:05:00 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[The [Graph API](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api) serves an average of 1.2 trillion API requests per day and powers some of Facebook's most popular products including Messenger and Instagram.  In the newest version of the Graph API (v2.9), we're announcing features that simplify development, making it even easier to build apps and experiences with Facebook.

**Places Graph**

We're providing free access to over 140 million places around the world, the same data that powers Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. We've created Search, Current Place, and Place Information endpoints, so you can find places relevant to your users and provide helpful information about each location. The Places Graph ties query limits to the size of your customer base and is integrated with the Facebook SDK so that it's easy to get started and scale quickly. [Visit our product page to learn more](https://developers.facebook.com/products/places).

**Enhanced URL Engagement Counts**

With this [URL Node improvement](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/v2.9/url), we've expanded the types of engagement metrics you can view for any URL on the web. These are now split into four distinct counts: reactions, comments, shares, and comments plugin. You'll be able to see engagement counts for your URLs as they are used across Facebook.

**Video API**

We're introducing new endpoints for the [Crossposted Videos feature](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/video-uploads#crosspostedvideos). A crossposted video is a video reused in multiple posts without having to share or upload them again. Crossposting videos can occur within the same Page or between Pages that have established a crossposting relationship. The new APIs support identifying and modifying crossposting relationships between Pages and modifying crossposting permissions for specific videos.

**Updates to Webhooks**

[Webhooks](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/webhooks/reference/) is Facebook's subscription-based push service for apps. We've added versioning so developers can opt-in to new Webhooks features as they become available. You can specify the version from the Webhooks product tab in the app dashboard, where you can also send sample updates for testing purposes. You can even test updates with a version that's different than your current subscription to assist in upgrading to future versions. Furthermore, User topic updates can include additional relevant fields to reduce the need to fetch them from the Graph API. [Check out](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/webhooks/reference/) our documentation detailing these upgrades.

**Connecting with people across your app and Messenger Bot**

With a [new API endpoint](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/connecting-accounts), you can now connect a Facebook customer from your app to your Messenger Bot to create better customer experiences across these two channels. 

**Read-After-Write Improvements**

The Graph API now supports [Read-After-Write API](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/using-graph-api/#read-after-write) calls. You no longer have to make a separate call to read an object after writing it. This feature works on any request that creates or updates an object. Simply specify a `fields` parameter to indicate which fields should be returned in the response, just as you would do on a read request. This works in every version of the Graph API.

**Page Insights**

We're updating the [Page Insights](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/v2.9/insights) endpoint. You can now query Page Insights to get aggregated daily minutes viewed for all videos on a Page. In addition, Page activity such as post comments and shares is now available in [Facebook Analytics](https://analytics.facebook.com/), allowing you to measure your audience's interactions with your Page alongside their other activity on your website, app, and more.

**Marketing API**

We're introducing many new features to help developers leverage the power of the [Marketing API](https://developers.facebook.com/ads/blog/post/2017/04/18/marketing-API-2.9/). We have enhanced features for Ads Creation and Management, Dynamic Ads, and Targeting. 

 For a full list of the Graph API v2.9 changes, please read our [changelog](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/changelog) and don't forget to take advantage of our [API Upgrade Tool](https://developers.facebook.com/tools/api_versioning) to find out if your app will be impacted by any version changes. You can learn more about [how our API versions work](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/versions) and our two-year stability commitment guarantee. 

 We'd also like to invite you to join us at our [Graph API v2.9 Q&A session](https://www.facebook.com/events/1821968694793024/) on May 2, 2017 if you'd like to ask our team questions.

 You can expect the next Graph API release to be announced this summer, and as always we look forward to connecting with you via the [Facebook Developer Community group.](https://www.facebook.com/groups/fbdevelopers)
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Facebook Analytics Adds Pages Support and Launches Automated Insights</title><description>Facebook Analytics Adds Pages Support and Launches Automated Insights at F8.</description><link>https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2017/04/18/facebook-analytics-new-features-f8/</link><pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:01:22 -0700</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[We've been busy building the future of analytics. Today, at F8, we launched new capabilities designed to help you understand and optimize your complete customer journey across the channels you use to interact with customers, such as your app and website. At the same time, we're making it easier than ever to draw valuable insights from your data.

We're adding analytics support for Facebook Pages and offline conversions, leveraging artificial intelligence to automatically surface insights, and making our tool more customizable. Below is an overview of what's new. 

**Omni-channel analytics for Pages and in-store sales (open beta)**  
We're extending omni-channel analytics for Facebook's family of apps and services with the addition of Facebook Page interactions, such as post reactions and shares, so you can measure and understand the interactions people have with your Page alongside their other activity on your website, app, and bot.

For example, an e-commerce business can measure if people who comment on an item featured in their Page post go on to view an item on their website, or purchase it in their app. The ability to view customer behavior across different channels gives businesses a unique ability to learn about and optimize their full customer journey to drive growth.

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src: "[asset:1877732282514227]",
width: 850
})

We're also giving you the ability to see how people's online interactions translate to in-store purchases with the addition of support for offline conversions. By closing the loop between your online and offline channels, you won't have to wonder if people browsing items on your website translates into sales in your physical store.

**Automated insights (open beta)**  
We're often surprised by the amount of time businesses spend in analytics tools — hunting for insights, anomalies or clues that will inform their next experiment and drive their next wave of growth. That's why we're pleased to announce automated insights. 

Using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence, Facebook Analytics reduces the time spent searching for clues by bringing valuable insights directly to you.

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src: "[asset:199937920510710]",
width: 850
})

With this new feature, you'll see insights such as changes in purchases for a new version of your app, or variations in engagement across people in different cities. Getting to these insights quickly, and in an automated way, helps you easily identify where to dig deeper and determine a plan of action.

**Custom dashboards (open beta)**  
We're making it easier to access the analytics you care about with the addition of customizable dashboards. Use [custom dashboards](https://www.facebook.com/help/analytics/521024031355214) to quickly pin your most important reports in one place, so you and your team can keep an eye on everything at a glance.

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src: "[asset:1292098624170720]",
width: 850
})

**More exciting features**  
We also launched a number of enhancements to our existing features to help you get the most out of your analytics.

* _Streamlined event source groups_: We've added the ability to create [event source groups](https://www.facebook.com/help/analytics/1387547017939527) directly from your dashboard, making it straightforward to set up omni-channel analytics by combining your different event sources such as pixels, apps, and Pages.
* _Omni-channel custom audiences_: You can now create custom audiences based on people's behavior across your app, website and bot, such as people who viewed an item on both your e-commerce store and your native shopping app.
* _User properties for web_: User properties provides you with additional segmentation criteria based on things you know, such as a customer's frequent flyer status. We're extending support for user properties from apps to websites, and bringing this feature out of beta.

**Getting started with analytics**  
Facebook Analytics is a powerful, free product for accessing rich audience demographics, and measuring customer behavior across channels. You don't need to use Facebook Login, and [with recent updates to our SDK](https://analytics.facebook.com/blog/facebook-sdk-update-streamlines-analytics-setup/), implementing Facebook Analytics and logging events is now quicker and easier. To learn more, visit our [quickstart guide](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/analytics/quickstart).

**Amit Finkelstein**  
Engineering Manager  
Facebook Analytics]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>