
Ask HN: Why is bufferapp allowed by Facebook? - uptownhr
I&#x27;m working on app very similiar to bufferapp but I found out that facebook recently revamped their application policies.<p>If you create a new app in facebook&#x27;s dev portal, you&#x27;ll have to ask for the &#x27;publish_actions&#x27; permission. Further, you&#x27;ll also have to provide detail explanation for why you need this and show a screencast of it following their policies. It even asks for a demo account...<p>Reading, https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developers.facebook.com&#x2F;docs&#x2F;apps&#x2F;review&#x2F;prefill<p>Shows that you may not pre-fill any message content and they are explicit about making sure that the content being shared was manually entered in by the user.<p>Clear bufferapp violoations.<p>1. &quot;Pre-fill the user message parameter with any content the user didn&#x27;t enter themselves, even if they can edit or delete that content before sharing. This applies to posts, comments, photo captions, and photo album captions.&quot;<p>2. &quot;Prompt users to click or tap a button to auto-populate the user message parameter. Your app can suggest content, but the person using your app should choose to manually copy and paste or type that content themselves.&quot;<p>Anyone know on what technicality bufferapp is allowed to do this?
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uptownhr
[https://cl.ly/1t3B1V2g1w3D](https://cl.ly/1t3B1V2g1w3D) is an example of
their setup page to request for access to 'publish_action'

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detaro
Doesn't buffer just post content the user entered before, which is explicitly
allowed in your first link, or am I missing something?

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uptownhr
Buffer allows you schedule messages from a feed. Using buffer, you can
subscribe to feeds and schedule content from these feeds one by one with a
click of a button.

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detaro
Right, forgot about that part. I'd argue the intent is the same as if they
typed it into the app? It's still a message they chose, not something modified
by buffer. Maybe that's a way, + of course they are big and already exist and
Facebook decided they'd rather have them around. Just because there are
guidelines doesn't mean they apply to everybody.

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uptownhr
Yea I understand. I just hope they will not reject my app :(

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detaro
Try to make it very clear that you don't modify the content posted, that seems
like the best bet to me (assuming that is the case). Good luck!

