Facebook

How to keep apps, games and websites from spamming your Facebook Timeline

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

One of the biggest challenges Facebook users face in their daily usage of the service involves keeping apps, games and websites that connect to Facebook as a sign-in mechanism from posting random updates, unwanted stores, ad links and other garbage on their Timeline.

For most people, this constitutes spamming because not only do these posts appear on your own Timeline, but also in your friends' News Feed and ticker.

Unfortunately, too few people are aware that they can easily squelch this spammy behavior with just a few clicks. In this tutorial, we're going to show you the tools Facebook put at your disposal which were designed to stop apps from posting updates on your behalf.

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Accessing Facebook in Safari can increase iPhone 6s Plus battery life by 15 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 8, 2016

According to The Guardian's technology reporter Samuel Gibbs, uninstalling Facebook's battery draining iOS app and accessing the mobile Facebook interface through the Safari browser can boost an iPhone 6s Plus's battery life by as much as fifteen percent.

Gibbs cited his own testing, which has revealed that Facebook's mobile application continues to drain the life out of an iPhone's battery even when it isn’t being actively used.

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WhatsApp testing ZIP chat export feature, Facebook to gain ‘post via WhatsApp’ button

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 1, 2016

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is about to integrate more tightly with the social networking firm's mobile client, as discovered Monday by German blog Macerkopf.de.

Facebook is testing the forthcoming version 2.12.17.689 update to WhatsApp for iOS which will permit users to export their chat archive as a ZIP file.

Currently, WhatsApp lets you back up and restore chat history via iCloud, so the addition of ZIP chat exporting will make it easier for users to download their instant messages to a computer.

In addition, Facebook is also testing a new WhatsApp integration in its mobile application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

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Facebook expanding Live Video feature to all iPhone users in the US

Cody Lee ∙ January 28, 2016

Facebook on Thursday announced that it would be expanding its live video broadcasting feature to all iPhone users in the United States. The company began testing the feature, aimed directly at Twitter's Periscope, in December, along with its photo collage update.

To share a live video, make sure you have the latest version of the Facebook mobile app and open up the Update Status sheet. You should see the Live Video icon sitting above the keyboard. Type a brief description and choose your audience before tapping it to go live.

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Facebook rolling out new 3D Touch features in its mobile app

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2016

Facebook on Thursday began rolling out new 3D Touch features to iPhone 6s users via its mobile app. The Verge reports that the additions include the ability to peek and pop things like web links, profiles, pages, groups, events and photos.

The Facebook app has supported 3D Touch since October, but until now it has mostly been about the Quick Actions—the shortcut menu for Home screen icons. Facebook has added a new one of these as well, which takes you to your Timeline. 

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Facebook launches sports section

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2016

Yesterday, Facebook announced a brand new section on the service dedicated to sports fans and it gets its first big test during this weekend’s NFL playoffs.

The Facebook Sports Stadium, as they're calling it because Facebook is “the world’s largest stadium,” is basically a dedicated place to experience sports in real-time with your friends and the world.

It brings all your game-related content on Facebook in one place, sorted chronologically and updated in real-time, including posts from your friends and their comments on plays, play-by-play information like where to find the game on TV, curated posts and commentary from experts, such as teams, leagues and journalists, and much more.

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How to download Facebook photos and videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 28, 2019

If you've been on Facebook for a few years now, chances are you've shared a bunch of photos and videos with your friends and family thus far, many of which might no longer be stored on your iOS device or Mac.

Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't make things any easier by not providing a straightforward way to download the photos and videos users have uploaded to the service.

But worry not, our loyal fans, the iDownloadBlog tutorial series comes to the rescue. In this detailed tutorial, you will learn about five different techniques that will help you download Facebook photos and videos onto your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Mac without too much hassle.

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WhatsApp to stop charging annual subscription fee in coming weeks

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 18, 2016

WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned mobile messaging service, announced on Monday that it's going to stop charging customers a subscription fee of 99 cents per year. The service is currently provided at no cost during its free year, after which customers are being charged 99 cents per year to continue using the service.

Over the course of coming weeks, everyone will be able to download and use WhatsApp on their device totally free of charge and without a subscription fee.

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Goofy offers a native Facebook Messenger client for Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Earlier this week, what appeared to be a leaked photo of Facebook's future Messenger client for OS X became all the buzz. Facebook may finally be in the works of developing a client for Apple's Mac platform that works just like the mobile app on iOS, allowing users to stay connected with their friends and family right from their desktop without having to have all the distractions of the full web site open in a web browser.

But that's not to say you have to wait until Facebook is good and ready to release such an app to start using such an app on your Mac.

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Native Facebook Messenger for Mac app revealed in leaked photo

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

Facebook may be bringing its popular messaging app to the desktop, according to a blurry photo obtained by TechCrunch which appears to show a native application being tested on a Mac notebook by an employee.

Facebook currently provides the Messenger app for a number of mobile platforms, in addition to a dedicated web interface at messenger.com and built-in messaging functionality available through its desktop UI at facebook.com.

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