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I have seen several flavours of this question going around but nothing exactly specific nor answered so trying it myself.

I am trying to build a Facebook login experience via the browser into my Facebook-based app that will require the users to not remember their passwords as much as possible. This means that if

  • they log in via their desktop browser and are already logged in, it will only ask them to 'OK' the permissions
  • they log in from their mobile browser and are logged in via their respective native app (Android/iOS), it will simply redirect them to the native app, ask for the app permissions and redirect them back to the success page on the browser
  • they log in from any browser and are not currently logged onto Facebook in any form, they have to enter their password and authenticate (whether natively or via browser this does not matter)

I know how the first can be done - that is pretty straightforward using the JS SDK. The second point is the tougher bit.

I am aware of existing custom URL schemes for Android and iOS but nothing specifically really mentions how that can be used for authentication and/or authorisation of Facebook apps. Does anyone have any ideas on how this can be done?

Thanks!

SalGad
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  • I have experienced that when you are logged in with 2 different account one in safari and one in native app in ios then sdk first check the native app account and ask permission and if there is no account setup then it will go to safari and look for active session else redirect to login page – Retro Jan 06 '14 at 05:34
  • So you basically want to request session token in the browser from their native app (in which they will probably be logged in)? – Igor Čordaš Jan 15 '14 at 15:43
  • Yep - it should go from browser -> verify on native app -> back to browser callback url – SalGad Jan 16 '14 at 03:44
  • No not verify on native app, the verification will be handled by FB, via web, but they end up dropping a session cookie that FB (the native FB app) knows how to find again. So user surfs to your site, and, if you do FB login properly, it drops the right cookie. User won't notice diff. When they go to FB app (or any FB login app) it will detect cookie. Note, if you do the integration right ;) – Anna Billstrom Jan 16 '14 at 23:18

3 Answers3

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In iOS use iOS facebook SDK. It will handle the login process effectively in different situations depending on the resources available. Check out this answer to know about different login flows

Integrating facebook

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Anil Varghese
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    No what I mean is, I am developing the application on the browser. Whatever platform they access it on, is it possible to log them in through their respective native app? – SalGad Jan 06 '14 at 07:09
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You're looking for Single Sign On behavior- in Facebook, use the native SDK, and instructions for setting up SSO. It includes entering your bundle id in the settings and setting up a referring url name (the name of your app usually). So what happens is- if you launch safari mobile, and log into facebook. Then, launch your app, with good integrated SSO. Then, it won't require you to login/pass, because it knows you've authenticated via browser. Same with Android.

Anna Billstrom
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  • This assumes I have a native app on each platform. Let's say my only app is on the web and accessible through the browser. Is there a way of verifying and granting permissions for my app in Facebook via the native app, without the user having to log on through the browser again? – SalGad Jan 16 '14 at 03:46
  • So- the case is, the user is on mobile, uses safari to see your site, signs in with FB. When they launch the native FB app, will it detect the login already and go right to the app without making the user login again? If you setup your site right, my experience is that it will work. See FB SSO for web dev. – Anna Billstrom Jan 16 '14 at 23:17
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I think what you are looking for (at least for Android) is starting an Intent on certain schema that will open Facebook app.

This is answered here Android facebook intent to show profile with class com.facebook.katana.ProfileTabHostActivity doesn't work any more

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Igor Čordaš
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