10 days ago, Facebook developer Joe Hewitt rocked the iPhone development world when he announced that he would stop making iPhone apps because he was fed up with the way Apple is running the App Store. This is significant since Hewitt was pretty much solely responsible for one of the most popular (and best) iPhone apps out there: Facebook’s. And now, just a little over a week later, we may be seeing the downside of Hewitt’s decision.
The Facebook iPhone app is broken [updates below, it appears to be an API problem], and has been for a while now. Every single user profile page contains zero updates or posts. Instead, each loads a stream that reads “USER has no recent posts.” Judging from Twitter searches, tips coming in, and a Facebook thread, this has been the case since at least yesterday, and possibly before that.
To be clear, Facebook’s main News Feed is still being populated with updated items, but if you want to see elements from any individual user, you’re out of luck. And that’s bad when one key feature of the iPhone app is the ability to pin friends’ profiles to your main screen in order to more easily access such information. And it’s really bad when, again, this is one of the most popular apps that there is.
After Hewitt’s decision to stop iPhone development, Facebook’s VP of Communications Elliot Schrage left us a comment reaffirming Facebook’s commitment to Apple and, in particular, their iPhone app. He wrote that Facebook “has a great team of engineers taking over iPhone related development.”
So a full team has replaced Hewitt, but they can’t seem to keep the app from breaking. And I’m not sure they even realize it is broken. But plenty of users do.
Update: In an email, a member of Facebook’s communication team confirmed the issue and says they’ve alerted the engineering team. But I’m still wondering how Facebook’s new iPhone “team” could have either missed this issue or have let it go unresolved for a day or so now?
How many Facebook developers does it take to fix an app? We’ll find out, I guess. The answer should be one: Hewitt. But sadly, that’s not the case anymore.
Update 2: Facebook has responded again that “this is the result of a backend Platform API issue, not the iPhone app. We are pushing a fix shortly.” So it’s a API problem that only affected the iPhone app. That sounds like an iPhone app problem to me — especially considering that Facebook controls both.
Update 3: Joe Hewitt has written to say that, “The FB API has glitches from time to time which break not just the iPhone app, but every app that builds on it, from Blackberry to Seesmic.” So I’ll guess we’ll just chalk up all the iPhone-only complaints to the fact that it’s so popular.
[thanks Andy]
Hewitt is the man. He wrote rogue code that would flip on when he left. Smart guy. Now he can negotitate a bigger pay check
Would be an epic turn of events
other for Hewitt who will fix it? Err.. GOogle? LOL
Facebook API is also broken broken broken!
Facebook doesn’t seem to have the QA that a company with hundreds of millions of users would have. Upside: they can turn stuff around quicker. Downside: regression testing isn’t what it should be.
In this alpha is the new beta / beta is the new gold master world we live in, it’s becoming commonplace and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. I think I prefer quicker innovation over error-free code.
This reminds me of the cellphone glitch we just have yesterday .. “which tracks our every move?” creepy..
Worst than Facebook down today: http://tiny.cc/cellphonespyware
Ah what’s the question again?
Note: I think apple should just remove their chip on their shoulder for a little while, coz 2 years from now no one would give a damn that they dominate the smartphones from 2007-2009
“DROID HERE WE GO!”
Smart guy. He made people realize how much he is worth of. Facebook developers should take initiative it bring it back to normal, as facebooking has become an essential task in everyone’s life.
the time zones of the facebook app have been messed up for awhile. i will send a message at 3pm est and it says 8pm.
this happens on the main site too. I even sent them a bug notice about it. this was several months ago.
It’s true. Facebook’s timing is messed up. I’m in Ghana and our time zone is GMT but our update times seem to be at variance with our local time. Facebook should work on it ASAP.
Makes you wonder why someone who works at Facebook has not noticed the issue.
Is it for real that Hewittbeen replaced by a complete team of developers?
How Hewittis proud right now
This could be an issue with Facebook’s API. There’s an app called Palmbook for the Pre that seems to have the same issue.
It’s quite simply an issue of Facebook devs being incompetent.
Blaming this problem on the facebook app is almost as dumb as blaming poor iPhone reception on AT&T. Keep up the good work Einstein. Does MG stand for Mommie’s Genius?
well, OBJ, you’re wrong. i just installed Friendsbook (formery Palmbook) on my Palm Pre earlier today. i didn’t like the app, so i deleted it. now my Facebook page that i access through my phone’s browser is all messed up. it won’t leve me post anything and when i click on things, it just disappears. It wasn’t like that before Friendsbook, so how could it be anything other than the app?
The Facebook app for my Droid has been acting up too. Instead of showing a user’s news feed it just shows their contact info instead. Anyone else having this problem?
Same problem here… babbler still works though
Joe wrote a great app. I doubt he intended or planned for the service to be completely dependent on him. Good product people want to make sure the legacy of their hard work endures — and that is more important than a pay check. I don’t know Joe or have inside info, but I do know what motivates great people. Thus, I reject the notion that this was planned.
when something software-wise doesn’t work… who do you blame? the company or just one single developer? Give it a rest TC, you can’t influence EVERYTHING. Nothing is wrong with Apple, nothing is wrong with the iPhone, nothing is wrong with the App Store. You guys sound like Fox News sounding the alarm every other post. Give it a rest. It’s tired.
But surely there is something wrong with you, if you say there is nothing wrong with Apple, the App Store and the iPhone.
It’s funny how the idea that maybe, just maybe, Joe Hewitt didn’t write the worlds greatest app and it wasn’t tested thoroughly and so you get what we had here last week. Bugs and surprise surprise, the App Store isn’t part of your Agile Development process.
The day when I can actually see the message I’m replying to when I’m entering the text, is the day I start using Facebook for iPhone again.
Totally aggred with james…
I’ll add that Hewitt is a great developer, but it doesnt make the team who works on Faceboo app worse than him. Hewitt is more famous because of Facebook App not the contrary
The only thing better than TechCrunch crapping on Apple Fanboys is Apple crapping on Apple fan boys!
Now maybe Hewitt can start working on the Facebook for Android app and make it better than the iPhone app. No Apple approval process to worry about. Win for him, Win for Android users.
Facebook’s problem is not specific to the iPhone/iPod Touch app. The Android and Blackberry versions are also not currently able to display profile “wall” postings.
omg!, evaluated @”"$9.5 Billion”" and can’t fix a bug…
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word☺
who says FB is broken on iPhone..I have been using it continuously without any issues..I hvn’t found any glitch in it so far…
Let’s stay on topic here. We are talking about the facebook app not your wee wee.
FB is definitely broken.
My Iphone Facebook has been working without interruption, but this post sure has improved traffic to your site. Hmm.
Have you tried looking up any of your FB friend’s on your FB mobile app lately?
You will be presented with something like “Your friend has no recent postings.”
Even says that about my own profile.
It’s broken, but it’s not the app, its the service. Same error with FB Blackberry and Android apps.
So when they get around to fixing it it will take 2 weeks to update the app. Maybe if facebook stopped screwing around with their live site every other day things wouldn’t break so often with the site as well as the app.
The guy wrote an app, he didn’t cure cancer and now it’s busted, amazing programing chops indeed.
On a side note, I’ve been having issues with the android facebook app. also. Click on a person and it bypasses their wall and goes straight to their info.
This is not just an iPhone issue, I have a BlackBerry aswell and its doing the same thing.
Pretty sure this has nothing at all to do with the iPhone app itself. Because no updates were released, then nothing in the app has changed at all since it was released. The bug is a result of backend platform changes at Facebook and that was never something Joe seemed to be involved with.
As much as we all hate the way the app store is being run, the real problem here is just a bug with the API platform that the app uses and has nothing to do with Joe Hewitt, Apple, or the iPhone.
+1
This article is shameful.
+1
He “rocked the … world!”
He was “fed up!”
overdramatizing things much?
also, TC, if you need a weekend copyeditor, I’d be happy to do it for free. this is atrocious.
+1 agreed.
Facebook backend APIs go down all the time. Half of the Facebook apps I use withing Facebook are broken at some time or another, at least if they integrate in any meaningful way. The same is true for mobile apps.
I just don’t get TC’s constant drumbeat here. I know 10 guys who could update the Facebook app without the least trouble, and even I could do it, despite limited iPhone dev experience. It’s not magic, and Mr. Hewitt, while plenty talented, is no special unmatchable wizard.
Terrible article.
You have the ability to look back retrospectively after we all know that the issue was because of a broken API. MG didn’t have that when he wrote it..
Nevertheless, API or the app itself, isn’t it Facebook’s fault? The point here is not of the app being broken, but of not being attended to in more than a day..
+1
also agree with this entire thread.
and for the record i haven’t had issues at all with the iphone app, however my blackberry app has been refusing to send updates for few days now.
shameful or not, the title captures attention and more importantly generates more revenue for Tech Crunch, Apple et al.
On top of iphone app being broken the Android version is also not working!
I like the fact that Hewitt essentially to Apple to F off. I am a Mac user and an iPhone user both, but I have to say this will be my first and last iPhone. I am tired of Apples draconian policies on the App Store. 100,000 apps? Sure 10,000 of the are fart apps, and then you have the individual apps at that each have 100 different iterations.
Also broken or never worked in the first place is ability to view videos people post. Or the ability to update your info page.
Time to fire Hewitt! His behavior shows the quality of his personality and loyalty to his employer. Maybe he can find his fortune cleaning sewers.
“How many Facebook developers does it take to fix an app? We’ll find out, I guess. The answer should be one: Hewitt. But sadly, that’s not the case anymore.”
Seriously? I can’t believe you managed to write that with a straight face.
No company should be that dependent on an individual programmer. Heck, no company should be dependent on one individual full stop no matter what the role.
Any decent organisation with its own in house dev team of any size should have full documentation accompanying the code, and more than one person familiar with it.
Given how significant the scales of good work coming out of Facebook around various Open Source applications like MySQL I would be surprised to find them lacking in such simple areas in other parts of the dev environment.
The real answer to “How many Facebook developers does it take to fix an app?” is “As many as it takes.” It’s like asking how long a piece of string is.
Ignorant articles like this prove Techcrunch is broken… anybody gonna fix it?
Actually it may just be more than a iPhone app problem because my blackberry fb app is doing the exact same thing.
Both Apple and FB can be draconian at times, so not sure who to flip off yet. All I know is the FB iPhone App is one of the most used I have. When someone who I follow posts, I get an SMS notification with half the post. I then tap on the FB iPhone app and get the rest of the story.
Someone killed Paul Harvey as far as I’m concerned….
“So it’s a API problem that only affected the iPhone app. That sounds like an iPhone app problem to me considering Facebook controls both.”
You want to try again, once more with accuracy?
Yes, it’s an API problem. No, it doesn’t affect solely the iPhone app. That sounds like an API problem to me. Especially given that the app was updated several days ago, hasn’t changed, and this problem suddenly developed over the past couple of days.
IT’S FIXED!!! =)
@TechCrunch: It’s fixed now & it wasn’t an app issue!
Guys, quit bashing on facebook. It was an API PROBLEM, which happens occasionally not only to the iPhone app but other apps using the API. Who cares who takes over the facebook app? It’s a great app already and facebook will do a great job I’m sure.
Be thankful they’re not like Twitter, which seems to have API problems weekly.
While we’re at it, can we request they fix the “Block This Application”? That’s been broken for several days (at least for me).
I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I can’t block a big dollar application: Fishville
…so is it a bug or…???
“Ignorant articles like this prove Techcrunch is broken… anybody gonna fix it?”
Agreed! Whoever wrote this is all up in the Kool Aid and doesn’t even know the flavor! There is nothing wrong with the iPhone, it is clearly the Facebook API that busted up and this article jumped the gun.