Facebook Now Makes It Easier for Mobile Applications to Work Together

Facebook has announced new suite of tools for developers that will allow them to incorporate the network's features directly into third-party iOS apps. The release will let developers develop applications for iPhone and iPad that take advantage of an unprecedented array of Facebook activities. And it will make it easier for mobile apps to work together.

A blog post by Facebook engineer Jason Clark announced a new version of the company's software development kit. In addition to bolstering Facebook's upcoming integration with iOS, Clark wrote, the social network opened an iOS development center. All of the changes will make it "easier and faster to develop Facebook-integrated iOS apps."
The changes will let Facebook members use their Facebook account to log into third-party apps on their mobile devices, just as they can currently on many Web-based services.

“One of the biggest problems with the [earlier] Facebook SDK is lack of awareness of other apps on the device and vice versa. Our challenges are especially acute because our users are sharing video, which much of the time will only play inside our app, not in the Facebook app or on Safari, due to Flash restrictions on iOS.”

The unprecedented level of integration between Facebook and the iPhone and iPad essentially lets apps communicate with one another, instead of having to go through an app-to-browser process. Authentication of Facebook passwords for third-party apps will happen in iOS instead of the app itself, increasing speed and efficiency.