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Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

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Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#231

Post by bobajeff »

robocat wrote: post #45
Swizec wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Protip: www.messenger.com works on computers. Doesn't seem to work on mobile tho

> Doesn't seem to work on mobile tho Did you try the Android "Request Desktop Site" checkbox? Edit: just saw that Zem says that works: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11835060 Edit 2: Jeswin says it isn't useable: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11834996

This is a good work around. However I will not be relying on this. I'll just reduce my use of Messenger (and probably Facebook) all together.

I'm currently not that dependent on Messenger since most people just text or call me anyway. The rest of Facebook I usually avoid anyway as it's in a different wavelength than I am.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#233

Post by keverets »

e12e wrote: post #138
galistoca wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a FB fanboy or anything, but sometimes it is a good choice to free yourself from legacy tech burden and build for the future. The web (html documents fetched via http requests) were not built with mobile devices in mind, especially websockets. In the mobile era, all messaging is based on push notifications which must go through the device vendor (APNS or GCM), and trying to support the legacy tech in this lan…

Yeah, first they threw out xmpp, so I couldn't use my preffered messaging app, then they kill messaging in the web view, forcing me to give up messaging or move to their messaging app, with intrusive permissions. This after they've soundly established that they don't respect users, with how they mangled addressbooks with an earlier version of the fb app. At least, since they're closing access from alternative sources…

I still use XMPP to connect to google talk and converse with people who are using hangouts. I use "Conversations" on Android, which works well and also supports OMEMO (the XMPP version of the encryption behind Signal/Whatsapp/etc). I'm effectively doing the equivalent of your facebook+xmpp+otr setup today, but it's googlechat+xmpp+omemo.

The author of Conversations recently wrote up the state of XMPP in 2016: https://gultsch.de/xmpp_2016.html

So, though you may not be using it anymore, XMPP is far from a dead end.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#234

Post by shrugger »

Whoa, who would've thought that a multi-billion dollar company would ever make a decision in order to promote newer versions of their own software?!?! /s

The whole point of Messenger is to consolidate messaging infrastructure. Being able to glean customer interests from that is just a bonus. Mobile web app is horrendous, and they know it, this is the solution.

I agree that Facebook lacks that trust with people, but they have every right to try and make their platform better and more efficient, and don't necessarily deserve the knee-jerk "they're up to something!" like this.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#235

Post by Zelmor »

Mark my words, pop-up advertisement will be served via chat-bots in a year. Hence the push to an application that has a pop-up feature like those head-bubble things.

I've been using Tinfoil for Facebook for a good while now, since my old phone is just incapable of handling their applications. I guess it's time to just delete my profile for good.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#236

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

peteretep wrote: post #218
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Privacy concerned users can use wrappers around the Facebook website, such as the open source "Tinfoil for Facebook" or "Face Slim" android apps, then Facebook cannot access certain things (depending on your configuration). If have to use a proprietary facebook app, then likely cannot achieve the same degree of privacy protections.

I'm sorry. I still don't understand what specific information Facebook can gather from them using their app that they can't from the browser. When I look in my phone settings for the Messenger app, I can switch off it's ability to look at locations, photos, etc. Tinfoil appears to be an app to specifically work around the fact that browsers can leak more information than the app would.

well the facebook app is always on, even in background. It is probably reading every keystroke and touch action, and even every pause between actions. But when accessing the basic browser site inside tinfoil, they can only get http actions you actually transmit, such as likes, login times, page loads, etc.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#239

Post by jonlucc »

click170 wrote: post #107
rietta wrote: post #20

I dislike this change. I specifically only access Facebook on my phone via the web app because (1) it saves significant battery and (2) I absolutely do not want the popup bubbles during the work day from church and other social groups I am connected to on Facebook. Ultimately, all this means is that I will stop accessing Facebook Messenger on my phone all together. I will communicate with the people who matter most o…

Not to mention that Facebook has intentionally changed the email address of contacts in people's phones without asking them [0]. This does not change my mind about banning all Facebook apps from my devices, it just means even less Facebook for me. [0] http://www.cnet.com/how-to/facebook-changed-your-e-mail-addr... !

I was bitten by a similar problem one of the very first versions of the FB app, and I haven't tried it again. It synced my Google Contacts (what I use as my canonical contacts list) with Facebook, resulting in duplicates and a whole bunch of mess that still isn't completely resolved years later. Now that I'm on Marshmallow, I might risk it, but I'm very hesitant to do so.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#240

Post by qmr »

Manishearth wrote: post #189

Interestingly, it lets me use the mobile webapp messaging without asking me to do anything. Because the OS I'm on has no Messenger app, and it probably will never have one. So if you spoof your UA string, it may stop bugging you and let you use messenger as usual.

Parent is almost, but not quite, entirely useless.

Would you mind sharing with the class what that particular UA is?

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