Integrating Facebook iOS SDK with Your Application

✍ Scribed by Giuseppe Macrì

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 162
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Optimize the social power of your applications by integrating the popular Facebook iOS SDK

Overview

• Effectively promote your Social Applications through Facebook
• Invite your friends to use your application
• Learn and understand Facebook iOS features with hands-on examples

In Detail

Facebook provides an iOS SDK to third party developers which allows them to develop iOS applications. These applications are then made available on the app store, from which the developers are entitled to 70 percent of sales revenue. Embedding these Facebook iOS SDK features takes applications to the next level of user engagement.

Starting with the process of setting up a Facebook developer account, we will use hands-on examples to walk you through developing and integrating social element like inviting others to use your software. This book focuses on detailing and documenting the process of developing an actual application. Through the course of the book, you will learn to use iOS SDK features in your code flawlessly.

Aiming to simplify the process of embedding Facebook iOS SDK features in your app, each chapter focuses on a new feature, and as you move through the chapters, you will find yourself embedding more functionality in your application. We begin with the creation of a new Facebook App ID before creating and setting up a project. Through the course of the book, you will use social platforms to authenticate users and fetch their social information to make your project more attractive and engaging. The book emphasizes on sharing functionalities, such as inviting friends through Facebook messages with the sole intention of making the app viral. By the end of the book, you will look at how to use the Facebook News Feed to make your app go viral. By the end of the book you will have built a powerful application using the world's largest social media platform.

What you will learn from this book

• Distribute and promote your application on the social platform
• Fetch user information and photos with Graph API
• Display Facebook user profiles and friends list
• Learn to use Facebook Graph API and API Explorer
• Check user credentials against the Social Platform effortlessly

Approach

A tutorial-based guide with chapters focusing on learning and embedding crucial Facebook features.

Who this book is written for

If you are a developer who wishes to develop and monetize your apps on the App store, then this is the book for you. This book assumes you have basic knowledge of iOS programming using Objective-C and XCode, however, prior knowledge of Facebook iOS SDK is not required.

✦ Table of Contents

Copyright......Page 4
Credits......Page 5
About the Author......Page 6
About the Reviewers......Page 7
www.PacktPub.com......Page 8
Table of Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 13
Facebook Platform – features......Page 19
Social Graph......Page 20
Graph API......Page 21
Dialogs......Page 22
Functionality – storing and using data from the Platform......Page 23
Facebook App Portal......Page 24
Application permissions......Page 27
New features in Facebook iOS SDK 3.x......Page 29
Facebook integration in iOS 6......Page 30
Native UI controls......Page 32
Mobile analytics......Page 33
Summary......Page 34
Chapter 2: Creating a New iOS
Social Project......Page 35
Creating a Facebook App ID......Page 36
Downloading the Facebook iOS SDK......Page 40
Creating a new XCode Project......Page 42
Importing the Facebook SDK into the application project......Page 47
Getting familiar with storyboard to build a better interface......Page 51
Summary......Page 52
Chapter 3: Connecting to a Facebook User Account......Page 53
Login flow......Page 54
Creating the Facebook view controller......Page 55
Login delegates......Page 66
Summary......Page 68
Understanding Facebook Platform......Page 69
Setting up the user profile interface......Page 70
Fetching a user's information......Page 72
Creating the friends view interface......Page 76
Creating the UI......Page 77
Displaying FBFriendPickerViewController......Page 79
Customizing the friends list using a search bar......Page 81
Summary......Page 88
Creating the Post Dialog interface......Page 89
Creating the book model......Page 90
Passing information between controllers......Page 92
Feed Share Dialogs......Page 95
Upload action permission......Page 96
Facebook Web Dialogs......Page 100
Publishing on a friend's wall......Page 103
Facebook Native Dialogs......Page 109
Summary......Page 112
Available features through Graph API......Page 113
Graph API Explorer......Page 114
Using the Graph API with Facebook
iOS SDK......Page 115
Fetching user information......Page 117
Fetching a user's friends......Page 118
Fetching a user's photos......Page 119
Posting status update......Page 120
Posting a new photo......Page 123
Summary......Page 125
Social channels......Page 127
App Center......Page 128
Inviting friends......Page 131
Summary......Page 139
Getting to know your users......Page 141
Growing your audience......Page 144
Mobile ads......Page 145
Summary......Page 153
Index......Page 155