The Facebook Insider » Facebook App News http://www.thefacebookinsider.com The Facebook Insider provides you with the latest security updates, news, tips, tricks and secrets to your favorite Facebook games and applications! Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:13:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Facebook Adds New Gaming Featureshttp://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/08/facebook-adds-new-gaming-features/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/08/facebook-adds-new-gaming-features/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:39:38 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=4443 Facebook announced on their blog last night their newest features to improve your FB gaming experience.

Please note that like most Facebook changes, these features will be rolled-out to users slowly. Some of you may have them; others may have to wait a while.

Expanded Screens

Firstly, FB is introducing larger screens on some of your favorite social games. A few of you may have already noticed the expanded screen on games such as CityVille, Zoo World, Monster World and Mystery Manor.

Game Ticker

More notably, the ‘new game ticker’ will appear on the right side of your screen when you’re playing your FB games. This ticker will act as an individual news feed and stream you and your friends’ gaming activities, scores and achievements in all the various games. Clicking on a post will take you straight to the game so you can start playing yourself.

Facebook has also allowed you to control who views these gaming stories by visiting your Settings and adjusting them to suit your preferences. You can also use the ‘X’ to remove the post much like your regular news feed.

Favorites

Lastly, you now have the ability to arrange your apps and games on your homepage’s side panel so that you can keep your favorites at the top. To add a new favorite, click the menu next to the bookmark. You can also edit and delete from the same menu.

There you go, gamers. Leave us a comment below on if you think these new features will help your gaming experience.

(Images used: Facebook Blog Post: Making Games Better)

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/08/facebook-adds-new-gaming-features/feed/ 0 FaceNiff Hacks Facebook: New App for Android Phones Takes Facebook Hacking Mobilehttp://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/06/faceniff-hacks-facebook-new-app-for-android-phones-takes-facebook-hacking-mobile/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/06/faceniff-hacks-facebook-new-app-for-android-phones-takes-facebook-hacking-mobile/#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:50:09 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=4326 There’s a new application for Android phones that makes hijacking Facebook (and several other social media accounts) ridiculously simple.

FaceNiff allows users to intercept user’s account credentials over public Wi-Fi connections (including WEP, WPA and WPA2). It does not work if the network is EAP encrypted.

The app works on the premise that once a user enters their username and password, the information is stored in a ‘cookie’ and then the cookie can be accessed over the public network. The biggest limitation being that the Android phone needs to be rooted. A process that allows the user full access to their phone so that they can modify the phone as much they please.

The makers maintain that the app is for educational purposes only, and stress that it is illegal to access other users’ information in certain countries.

Last year, there was a similar occurrence with Firesheep, a Firefox extension that allowed the same ability to steal user credentials. This caused social media sites to up their games and enable secure browsing.

I don’t explain this to assist in those looking to hack accounts (you can find that information anywhere). I would like to emphasize the need to keep your accounts secure. Be extremely wary of what you’re accessing on public Wi-Fi networks.

FaceNiff currently works for Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, YouTube and Nasza-Klasa on several different brand of Android phones.

Keep your secure browsing on while in public locations. Facebook’s own is set to default now, but users turn it off to use certain games and applications.

Read our Understanding Secure Browsing on Facebook post if you need help with this.

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/06/faceniff-hacks-facebook-new-app-for-android-phones-takes-facebook-hacking-mobile/feed/ 0 PastPosts Shows You What You Did on Facebook a Year Beforehttp://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/pastposts-shows-you-what-you-did-on-facebook-a-year-before/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/pastposts-shows-you-what-you-did-on-facebook-a-year-before/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 15:18:57 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=4266

In our technologically savvy world where we document maybe too much of our lives, a daily reminder of what we were up to a year ago sounds like a great way to recall the past.

PastPosts is an interesting new Facebook application created by techie specialists, Benny Wong, Jonathan Wegener and Matt Raoul.

It’s quite simple. Connect the app to Facebook and every day you get a new email showing you your wall posts from that day the year before. If you didn’t use Facebook that day, you get no email.

This app really is a great example of how much of a digital trail of data we all leave behind using our various social media.

It has the potential to be fun, interesting, embarrassing, etc. etc. The list could go on.

My curiosity is going to choose interesting and give it a try. How about you?

Go to pastposts.com if you’d like to try.

Do note that this application asks for access to a lot of your Facebook information. Those who are uncomfortable with this should not use this application.

You have the option of removing access to some of the aspects of it (such as Posting to your wall) through your Privacy settings after you have added the app.

Go to Account>Privacy Settings>Apps and Websites>Edit Your Settings>Select the app and remove what you wish. Unfortunately, it still needs access to your most basic information.

If you need help with this process, read How to Check Your Privacy Settings & What You’re Really Sharing with Your Games & Apps for help.

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/pastposts-shows-you-what-you-did-on-facebook-a-year-before/feed/ 0 How to Check Your Privacy Settings & What You’re Really Sharing with Your Games & Appshttp://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/how-to-check-your-privacy-settings-what-youre-really-sharing-with-your-games-apps/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/how-to-check-your-privacy-settings-what-youre-really-sharing-with-your-games-apps/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 20:20:01 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=4147 With Facebook’s recent scandal about applications leaking users’ information, users have been urged to double check just what information they are making public.

Facebook is powerful tool, which can be used for both good and evil. We’ve all heard horror stories. Relationships ruined over tagged photos or those just plain old unflattering tags, status update overshares and let’s never forget the friendly status update hijacking.

Seriously, many of us enjoy Facebook’s capabilities without thinking too much of its consequences. In reality, many users are placing huge portions of their lives on Facebook.

It may not be you, but just in case, I suggest going into Account>Privacy Settings, and taking a good look at what information is available to who.

The first section is Connecting on Facebook. This is all about who has access to you via searches and messaging.

The next part is the most important. Sharing on Facebook.

 

It should come with the disclaimer: Share Carefully!

Use the ‘Customize Settings’ link at the bottom of this section and make sure the settings you have suit you.

 

Finally, see what information you are allowing games and application to access. You may think since none of your information is public, these apps cannot get to it, but some of them access it anyway.

In your Privacy Settings, (like seen above: Account>Privacy Settings). Go to Apps and Websites at the bottom of the page. Select Edit your settings.

Next to the apps you use is Edit Settings.

Once there click ‘Edit Settings’ for each app you use.

You’d be surprised that some of them are allowed to access all your information and you can’t change it. I would suggest removing those apps.

Some, like CityVille seen above, are allowed to ‘Post to your Wall’, but you have the option to remove it.

Look through all your applications carefully. It’s your safest bet.

Also, read about ‘How to Make Friends Lists‘ to learn how to make your Facebook account even more private.

That’s all, folks! Remember, be careful what you put out there, you never know when it’s going to come back and bite you!

 

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/how-to-check-your-privacy-settings-what-youre-really-sharing-with-your-games-apps/feed/ 0 Facebook Applications Unknowingly Leak Access to Third Party Siteshttp://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/facebook-applications-unknowingly-leak-access-to-third-party-sites/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/facebook-applications-unknowingly-leak-access-to-third-party-sites/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 16:18:08 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=3981 Facebook has done it again.

According to a blog post by security software giant, Symantec Corporation, Facebook may have inadvertently allowed third party sites, mostly advertisers, access to users’ profile information, including pictures, chat, and even the ability to post messages to users’ walls.

These leaks were allowed through some of the millions of applications in use on Facebook. According to Symantec, they ‘estimate that as of April 2011, close to 100,000 applications were enabling this leakage’. This leaves the grim possibility that over the past few years, millions of users’ information were accessible by third party sites.

As Symantec explains, these Facebook applications were unknowingly leaking access tokens or ‘spare keys’ to third party websites, such as advertisers and analytics.

Their hope is that most sites did not notice that they had to access to such information.

Of course, Facebook has now corrected the problem. For users worried about their information, changing your password invalidates these access tokens.

 

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2011/05/facebook-applications-unknowingly-leak-access-to-third-party-sites/feed/ 0 Top 10 Facebook Pages For October 2010http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/10/top-10-facebook-pages-for-october-2010/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/10/top-10-facebook-pages-for-october-2010/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:48:54 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=2186 It’s every page owners dream – making the Top 10 Facebook Fan Page list. It takes work, dedication, and an extremely popular brand. Does your brand have what it takes to compete with the most popular fan pages on Facebook? Check and see who you need to compete with, as of October 2010.

  1. Texas Hold’em Poker – 25,044,094 People Like This
  2. Facebook – 22,843,440 People Like This
  3. Michael Jackson – 22,043,481 People Like This
  4. Lady Gaga – 20,860,898 People Like This
  5. Family Guy – 19,517,600 People Like This
  6. Vin Diesel – 17,158,443 People Like This
  7. Eminem – 17,217,898 People Like This
  8. YouTube – 17,030,878 People Like This
  9. The Twilight Saga – 16,032,332 People Like This
  10. Starbucks – 15,728,345 People Like This

Do you have what it takes for fans to “Like” you?

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/10/top-10-facebook-pages-for-october-2010/feed/ 0 Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 18, 2010http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-18-2010/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-18-2010/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:04:34 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=1006 TheFacebooInsider Quiz TimeThis week’s Top 10 applications and gainers for the week both show very little change. The two lists are shown below with their latest stats. To change things up this week, I thought we would hold a little ‘for fun’ contest – bragging rights only here folks.

In the comments section below, list the Top 3 Developers on Facebook as of today, January 18, 2010, in the exact order, based on how many monthly users they have.

Your choices are:

Facebook, Playfish, Causes, LOLApps, CrowdStar, Zynga, MindJolt, Playdom, RockYou!

We will announce next week the name of the commenter who posted the correct answer first :)

Here is this weeks Top 10 Facebook Application list:

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 18, 2010

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 18, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

This weeks Top 10 Gainers list:

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 18, 2010

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 18, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

Links To The Top 10 & Others Mentioned:

If you have any comments or suggestions about our Top 10 lists, please feel free to let us know below!

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-18-2010/feed/ 8 Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 11, 2010http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-11-2010/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-11-2010/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:21:09 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=958 Our Top 10 list adjusts a little this week to allow for the addition of an older application, recently added to the metrics group we use to track usage each week. iHeart, which has been an extremely popular application on Facebook for some time now, jumps onto our list in the #3 spot.

The addition of iHeart bumps some regulars such as Pet Society off the list week, as it continues to face stiff competition from the ever rising newer PetVille game, developed by Zynga. Interestingly though, FarmVille, Cafe World and Mafia Wars have all been experiencing user decline over the past few weeks. Mafia Wars alone has lost almost 5 million players in the last 6 weeks.

Here is this weeks list:

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 11, 2010

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 11, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

Topping our Top 10 Gainers list for the week is Pillow Fight. It’s a time-sensitive game allowing you to pillow fight with your friends, crushes, affair, love or enemies. The winner is declared within two days if the opponent fails to hit you back.

Next is a newer game called Tiki Farm, that seems to be a cross between Happy Island and FarmVille. You get to farm on an island, grow pineapple or sugacaner to please the Tiki Spirits, and yes, even wear grass skirts!

Rounding out the top 3 gainers is an application sure to appeal to the younger crowd – Graffiti. This app allows you to draw on the photos of your friends. Could be fun!

As predicted last week, Dantes Inferno appears on this weeks list as well.

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 11, 2010

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 11, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

Links To The Top 10 & Others Mentioned:

If you have any comments or suggestions about our Top 10 lists, please feel free to let us know below!

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-11-2010/feed/ 3 Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 4, 2010http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-4-2010/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-4-2010/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:24:55 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=899 First off, Happy New Year to all of our Top 10 followers! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season :)

For our first ‘Top 10′ of 2010, we are seeing very little change, with all the usual suspects populating this weeks’ list. Here are the latest rankings, along with their average monthly users count:

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 4, 2010

Top 10 Facebook Applications For January 4, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

This past weeks Top 10 Gainers list showcases a few new applications worthy of a look. Blingee Book gained an extremely impressive 8+ million users. This app allows you to add animated graphics, comments, and all sorts of goodies to your pictures for fun or glamour. A few of the comments on their discussion board detail user frustrations with the number of Blingee’s appearing on their wall – easily remedied by clicking the Block Application link located at the top left of the application page, under the app photo.

**TIP** You can block any application directly on its app homepage, by clicking on the Block Application link.

Play Dantes Inferno on FacebookOur Featured App this week does not appear on either of our lists, but we expect to see it soon: Dante’s Inferno.

This new strategy game is based on EA’s game released in back in February, and is adapted for Facebook by Lolapps, Inc. From the developers:

Become Dante, returning home from the Crusades to find your wife has been murdered and her soul sent to Hell. Fight through the Nine Circles of Hell and get Beatrice back!

Reviews so far seem very positive – apart from one player claiming the game idea was stolen from him. Otherwise, this one looks to be a great way to eliminate your gaming boredom and start the new year off with something fresh!

Here is this weeks Top 10 Gainers list:

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 4, 2010

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For January 4, 2010

Source: http://appdata.com

Links To The Top 10 & Others Mentioned:

If you have any comments or suggestions about our Top 10 lists, please feel free to let us know below!

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2010/01/top-10-facebook-applications-for-january-4-2010/feed/ 0 Top 10 Facebook Applications For December 28, 2009http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2009/12/top-10-facebook-applications-for-december-28-2009/ http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2009/12/top-10-facebook-applications-for-december-28-2009/#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:11:11 +0000 admin http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/?p=857 As the year comes to a close, this is the last Top 10 list that we will be posting for 2009!

There are not many changes in this weeks list – just a jostling of positioning for our regulars. FarmVille of course still firmly holds onto the #1 spot, with very little movement in total users over the holiday.

This week’s Top 10:

Top 10 Facebook Applications For December 28, 2009

Top 10 Facebook Applications For December 28, 2009

Source: http://appdata.com

There are plenty of new faces on this weeks Top Gainers list, including two super applications to round out your year on Facebook.

My Year In Status is a neat application that pulls a random selection of your status’s from the year, and puts them into a collage. You have a choice of templates to post them onto, and can edit up the caption you wish to appear. Unfortunately you cannot select which specific status updates appear on the list, but the application is new and hopefully open for improvement. Definitely worth your time to take a look.

By the same developer as above, My Year In Photos has also been released. Similar to the Status collage, this takes 16 random photos from your albums and places them into a collage. Here you can choose which ones you would like to appear, as well as the look of the frame the photos appear in. I absolutely love this idea and it was fun clicking through the photos to make up our image. This app falls just short of our Top 10 list (#13), but I suspect will be near the top next week.

Toping the list this week is a new application geared specifically for the Italian community on Facebook. Incontra gente gives users the opportunity to connect as the application has been completely designed in Italian. Definitely worth a look if you are looking for a little Italy!

CrowdStar, the developers of Happy Aquarium and Happy Pets, has released its latest virtual world – Happy Island. Reviews so far are very positive and as the players flock over, the game will definitely grow and expand. Worth a look :)

Here is this weeks Top Gainers list:

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For December 28, 2009

Top 10 Facebook App Gainers For December 28, 2009

Source: http://appdata.com

Links To The Top 10 & Others Mentioned:

If you have any comments or suggestions about our Top 10 lists, please feel free to let us know below!

]]> http://www.thefacebookinsider.com/2009/12/top-10-facebook-applications-for-december-28-2009/feed/ 1