Facebook app for iOS: Canceling out of prompt after leaving the Previously Logged In screen strands user - certain apps!

 iOS 14.7

Facebook app for iOS (version 328.0)

Date: 07/27/21

Description:

There's a strange problem that I have started noticing with Facebook's login authorization process when accessed via a Facebook login for account creation in an iOS app.

This does NOT happen with all apps. I just spotted this with Flipboard and Etsy - and I assume that it happens with some other apps.

This leaves the user stranded inside the Facebook iOS app - and is really bad end-user experience. 

Take a look at Flipboard's "You previously logged in to Flipboard with Facebook" authorization screen. If the user cancels out of this page:

And then selects the "Cancel" option from this prompt:

The "Cancel" option in the upper left will disappear. This leaves the user...

Completely and totally stranded here. There doesn't appear to be any way to "Cancel" out of anything, and the user is forced to restart the Facebook app. This is a new problem, that I spotted with apps such as Flipboard and Etsy. I don't ever recall seeing this happen before.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Have a Facebook account that has previously logged into Flipboard 

2. Download and launch the Flipboard app (version 4.2.111)

3.  Pick the three topics to follow and advance to the account login screen

4. Choose the "Continue with Facebook" prompt

5. From the "Flipboard wants to use Facebook" prompt select "Continue"

6. From the "Open in Facebook" prompt select "Open"

7. From the "You previously logged in" page select "Cancel"

8. From the "Facebook wants to open Flipboard" prompt select "Cancel"

9. Watch the "Cancel" in the upper left disappear 

Result: The user gets trapped on a page after canceling out of a Facebook authorization prompt - user is stuck with the Facebook app being unresponsive, cannot exit from a white screen

Expected: User should not be trapped 

Like I said: this seems to be happening with some apps - not all. 

They will now sometimes be stranded!

Gawq app for iOS: Account Creation - Mobile Phone entry keypad is hard to activate if user creates account using Facebook or Google credentials

 iOS: 14.3 on an iPhone 6

Gawq app for iOS (version 1.0.2)

I downloaded the Gawq app for iOS today after reading an article about it. I like the idea of the app, and will continue to play around with it in the future.

There is one minor issue, however. The mobile phone entry keyboard on the "Complete registration" page does not seem to work very well if the user uses either Google or Facebook credentials to create an account.

The keyboard works flawlessly if the user uses Apple ID to create an account. They can continually call up and dismiss the mobile number keyboard continually. It doesn't work so well with Google or Facebook. I actually thought that the keyboard wasn't working at all after I logged in with my Facebook credentials.

Here's a video. The first part of the video shows the mobile phone keyboard entry after creating an account using Apple ID. It works great - the user can continually activate the keyboard. 

The second part of the video shows the same keyboard after creating an account using Facebook or Google. The keyboard is VERY difficult to active. 

.@dziabiak .@GawqTalk - bug with the Gawq app. The mobile phone keyboard doesn’t work (isn’t activated easily) when creating account with Google or Facebook credentials. Works fine with Apple ID. Very frustrating. pic.twitter.com/Fuch9tKZhX

— Random iOS Bugs (@RandomiOSBugs) December 21, 2020

 

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Download the Gawq app for iOS

2. From the landing page, select either the Facebook or Google options

3. After entering in valid credentials, press under "Your mobile phone" to activate the keyboard on the "Complete Registration" screen

4. Dismiss the keyboard 

5. Try to activate the keyboard again 

Result: The keyboard for the mobile number entry does not work well if the user uses Google or Facebook to create an account - if the user dismisses the keyboard by accident, it is very difficult to activate it again 

Expected: The keyboard on the mobile number entry option on the "Complete registration" screen should work well after it has been dismissed by the user 

Facebook app for iOS: hashtag suggestions are not accessible from the Edit Caption option of any photo

 iOS 14.0.1

Facebook app for iOS (version 291.0)

Date: 10/15/2020

Description:

Here is a minor problem that I keep having with the Facebook app (version 291.0) for iOS. When the user edits the caption of any photo, suggested hashtags appear after entering in the "#" character.

None of the suggested hashtags appear to work. The user can't select them.

Here's a video of what I mean:

.@Facebook .@schrep - Minor (but noticeable) bug with the Facebook iOS app. You can’t select any of the auto-suggested hashtags when edit captions on photos.

What’s the point, as it makes editing the caption, and using hashtags, a chore? pic.twitter.com/fBLEtQFuR8

— Random iOS Bugs (@RandomiOSBugs) October 15, 2020

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Select any of your uploaded photos

2. Select the "Edit Caption" feature 

3. Enter in the "#" and any word to see the suggested hashtags

4. Select any suggested hashtag

Result: With the current version of the Facebook iOS app (version 291.0) the user can not select any of the suggested hashtags

Expected: The suggested hashtags offered by the Facebook iOS when editing a caption of a video should be accessible 

Select any photo that you have previously uploaded. Select the option in the upper right...

Select the "Edit Caption" option...

Enter in a "#" in the caption...

Try to select any of the suggested hashtags...

I can't select any of the suggested hashtags.

Facebook app for iOS: This accessing the front camera bug everyone is talking about...

iOS 13.2.2
Facebook app (version 246.0) for iOS
Date: 11/12/2019

Description:

I've gotten it also! There is a wild bug with the current (246.0) Facebook app for iOS. Numerous bad reviews in the Apple App store are referencing this bug.

I believe this bug to be much worse than it appears - it probably explains why so many people are complaining about how the current iOS app is quickly draining battery power from iOS devices.

I've gotten this bug to reproduce two different ways. It is extremely easy to reproduce.

The easiest way:

Click on any photo in the app. Swipe up or down. If you look to the left, you can see that the camera is activated.

Looking through Twitter, you can see that has been referenced several times in recent hours and days. You can also find users contacting both Facebook and Apple Support on Twitter - with an unusual silence on the issue.

Here's a Twitter thread from a Twitter user named Joshua Maddux:

Found a @facebook #security & #privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed. Note that I had the camera pointed at the carpet. pic.twitter.com/B8b9oE1nbl

— Joshua Maddux (@JoshuaMaddux) November 10, 2019

Here's another Twitter thread from a Twitter user named Daryl Lasafin:

Facebook app on iOS 13.2.2 opens my phone’s rear camera when I open a profile photo swipe down to return (look at the little slit on the left of the video). Is this an app bug or an iOS bug?? @facebook @AppleSupport pic.twitter.com/WlhSXZulqx

— Daryl Lasafin (@dzlasafin) November 10, 2019

One small blog has posted about this, but no one else seems to caught on. I would guess that this is draining the battery power of a great number of iOS users out in the wild. 

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Launch the Facebook app for iOS (version 24.6)
2. Click on photo in the app (Especially if it is a single uploaded photo)
3. Click again on the photo to expand it to full screen
4. Swipe either up or down

OR:

1. Launch the Facebook app for iOS (version 24.6)
2. Go to a profile page (Elizabeth Warrren's for example)
3. Click on her profile picture
4. From her expanded profile picture - swiftly swipe down from the middle of her face

Result: The current version of the Facebook app for iOS (version 24.6) actives the front facing camera of the iOS device if the user swipes down from a photograph

Expected: No iOS app should activate the front facing camera of the iOS device without express user consent - swiping down in an area of the UI should not activate the camera of the device

Here are some screenshots:

Head to any person's profile picture. Take Elizabeth Warren's, for example....

Swipe down, swiftly, from the middle of the profile picture...

The camera of the device is activated!!!