Facebook Share Breaking Change - Updates Required

Recent updates to Facebook’s platform including the deprecation of the publish_actions permission, which is a breaking change for any applications that are using authenticated Facebook share.

As of April 24, 2018, new apps will not be able request the publish_actions permission.

Apps created before April 24, 2018 can continue to use the publish_actions permission until August 1, 2018.  After August 1, apps will no longer be to allowed to use the permission.

Without the publish_actions permission, it is no longer possible for applications to share content on behalf of users. Instead, all sharing must be performed directly through Facebook and does not require users to grant special permissions.

This change reflects a general trend in the industry over the last couple of years where users are very hesitant to grant applications permission share on their behalf. The native sharing experience removes the need for that permission while still allowing end users to share content.

Please see below an FAQ on required updates in order for Facebook share to continue to work after August 1, 2018.

FAQ

What changes are needed for Facebook sharing to work after August 1?

Share widgets will need to be updated to use native sharing instead of authenticated sharing. Native share will use native Facebook functionality for sharing and does not require the user to grant any permissions.

Janrain’s dashboard or Share JavaScript API can be used to switch from the facebook provider to the native-facebook provider. Details on provider configuration in the dashboard can be found after the FAQs.

I’m using Janrain’s Share v2 widget, what changes do I need to make?

The Share v2 widget does not support the native share providers specified above. If your website is still using Share v2 it will need to be updated to use the current version of the Janrain Share widget (v3).

Janrain’s dashboard and docs site for social sharing provides details on implementing Share v3.

Are there any other changes I should be aware of when using native sharing?

Yes. Since native share occurs on the provider’s site using their tools, we can no longer provider analytics around sharing.

Should I update all of my providers to use native share instead of authenticated share?

Yes. As mentioned above, there is an industry trend away from authenticated share and in the next couple of months, we expect to announce timelines for winding down our authenticated share products.

What happens if I don’t update my application?

If you don’t update your application, Facebook share will be broken after August 1, 2018.

What error messages should I expect to see?

In Share v3, the following error will display:

In Share v2, the following error will display:

Dashboard Configuration and Share Widget Code

1. Log in to dashboard.janrain.com
2. Go the Configuration dashboard for you Engage application
3. Click on ‘Sharing’ under ‘Widgets and SDKs’
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4. Select the native providers under step 2 in the second column.
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5. Copy/update the code below into your application
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