Enhanced Developer App Review and Graph API 3.0 Now Live

When we launched the Facebook platform eleven years ago, it was impossible to imagine all the innovative ways developers would use the social graph to build a more connected world.

To date, millions of developers have built on our platform, and our journey together has been marked by a number of memorable milestones, from the launch of Facebook Login in 2008 to when the Messenger Platform opened its send/receive API in 2016 to the introduction of Camera Effects Platform last year.

We recently took a number of steps to better protect people's information on Facebook, which required us to reexamine our platform. Today, we are making several important improvements to our platform policies and developer programs with a focus on building trust with the people who use our products. The improvements we are making are grounded in a few operating principles:

• Building APIs that create value. This means that if we're not certain an API will create value for people using your application, then we won't build it.
• Give transparency and control. People should be in full control over how they share their information with developers. In 2014, we made significant changes to give people granular controls over the permissions and information they chose to share, and our expectation is that this is reflected in your product experience too.
• Focus on building trust with the people that use our products. One goal is to ensure that bad actors do not ruin things for the overwhelming majority of you who are building good experiences. Our plan is to closely evaluate all application submissions with a heightened level of expectations.

We recognize that change always has the potential to be disruptive, so we want to thank you for your patience and your partnership as we take these steps. We believe that these changes will ensure the ecosystem remains strong moving forward.

App Review is Back

Today we are re-opening our app review process. The process has changed a bit as we now require business verification for apps that need access to specialized APIs or extended Login permissions. Apps that ask for basic information from public profile, including name, email and profile photo, are not subject to business verification.

Global Developer Programs and Resources

We are expanding our developer resources around the world to ensure that you have the programs and products you need to be successful:

• FbStart — Started as a program for mobile startups almost 5 years ago, FbStart has expanded to support all technology-dependent startups building with Facebook platforms. More recently, we launched a pilot for an acceleration program aimed at late stage startups that are looking to scale.
• Developer Circles - Our community of global developers, launched at last year's F8 with a little more than 10,000 members, has grown into a community of 100,000 developers across 54 countries. Today, more than 70 cities around the world are hosting Developer Circles F8 viewing parties.
• Global Tech Hubs — Over the last year, we announced 15 Facebook-supported global tech hubs in countries like Brazil, France, India, and Nigeria. These Facebook-supported hubs feature acceleration programs, developer skills training, and workshops for startups looking to take their businesses to the next level.
• Prize-based Competitions — We plan to build more prize-based competitions to spur innovation and help discover new leaders around the world. Many of these competitions will be hackathons, but we are always looking for new and creative ways to engage and reward our developer community. For example, we're bringing back the F8 Hackathon starting today and through the end of the conference in San Jose. Additionally, we are hosting an online three-month hackathon that will bring together two sets of builders — developers and community leaders — for the chance to create tools that give people the power to build community.
• Redesigned Developer Site — Today we are unveiling a new and improved developer site, where developers can connect, learn, seek help, and discover new tools across our family of products, including the latest in virtual reality and AI.

New Products + Tools

At F8, we announced a number of products to help developers build entirely new experiences including:

• AR Camera Experiences for Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook Lite: Last year at F8 we announced the AR Camera Platform, allowing third parties to design augmented reality experiences in AR Studio and distribute for the camera, and today we're bringing it to Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook Lite, connecting with a larger audience around the world. Brands will be able to integrate AR on the Messenger Platform, creators will be able to build AR experiences for their followers on Instagram, and we're also adding a new distribution surface with Facebook Lite.
• New Ways to Share Stories: We're introducing a way for people to share from their favorite apps to both Facebook and Instagram Stories. People already upload screenshots from other apps to share their interests, and now we're making that experience faster, easier, and more creative on Stories. Just tap the share button in an app to share what you're doing directly into the Facebook camera. From there you can edit and add to your story, News Feed, or Messenger. You don't have to connect your Facebook account to other apps in order to share to Stories.
• Graph API 3.0: We are launching the new Graph API 3.0 that updates the types of Place IDs in the Places Graph endpoints.
• Facebook Login: We are updating Facebook Login to restrict access to data, improve how the token experience is handled, enable developers to receive requests from people to delete their data, and the introduction of a new section in Apps Settings for business integrations.

It's our belief that the future of the tech world will not be built solely in Menlo Park, California, so we'll continue to invest in building programs and products that will empower you, the global developer community.