An update to iOS 11 could cause a major headache for mobile dating apps that use Facebook logins.
A line from the iOS beta developer notes that outline the change was posted on Twitter today by venture capitalist Sean Cook.
The notes state: “Social accounts have been removed from Settings in iOS 11. Third-party apps no longer have access to those signed-in accounts.”
The vast majority of online dating apps obviously use Facebook as a way for users to login to their apps in a quick and seamless way, so this regression is less than ideal for these products.
According to reports, this downgrading also applies to Twitter, which is used by fewer apps for social logins on iOS.
End of an era pic.twitter.com/YL9fNt38xA
— Sean Cook (@theSeanCook) June 5, 2017
This likely means that users will either have to log into Facebook on its native app, or the mobile web, in order to access a third party app that relies on Facebook logins.
This automatic Facebook login system has been available on iOS since 2012.
Apple’s change puts both Facebook and Twitter on the same level as other players, giving the two companies the same iOS sharing extensions offered to their competitors.
It is believed that the change is likely tied to another forthcoming announcement from Apple – the Password AutoFill for Apps, which sounds like a Last Pass-style password management tool.
The news of this was tweeted about by Ricky Mondello, who is unveiling the tool at WWDC today.
I’m thrilled to introduce Password AutoFill for Apps. If your app has a login screen, I have information for you. Session 206. Wed, 9am.
— Ricky Mondello (@rmondello) June 5, 2017
The caption for the session says: “Password AutoFill is a new feature in iOS 11 that makes logging in easy by putting users’ passwords directly on the keyboard in your login UI. Learn how to guarantee that Password AutoFill works in your app to make logging in a frictionless experience for your users.”
More on this story as we get it.