Here's how Microsoft services get affected by Facebook Graph API changes

Microsoft has just announced that Facebook integration in several Microsoft Apps and Services will be no longer available. According to the company, Facebook has made some changes to its Graph API, which is going to impact Microsoft apps and services. For those who don’t know, Facebook’s Graph API allows Microsoft and other developers to integrate Facebook into their apps or services – for example, the ability to connect your Microsoft account to Facebook.

The changes to Facebook’s Graph API is going to have a significant impact on Microsoft’s apps and services. The changes are having a major impact on Windows and Windows Phone’s major feature – the People hub – users will no longer be able to connect their Facebook accounts properly. However, it’s worth mentioning that Windows Phone 8.1 won’t be affected by the change.

As expected, the changes are also going to have an impact on Microsoft’s other services and apps – here’s the full list:

• Outlook.com, Windows , Windows Phone and Office 365 Calendar sync
• Windows 8.1 People app
• Windows 8 People app
• Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Calendar app
• Windows 8 Photo Gallery and Movie Maker
• Windows 8 Photos App
• Windows Phone 7 and 8 People app
• Windows Phone 7 and 8 OneDrive
• Windows Phone 7 and 8 Photos
• Windows Live Essentials Calendar and Contacts
• OneDrive Online
• Outlook Social Connector in Outlook 2013
• Office 365 Outlook Web App

Obviously, this is going to have a major impact on users using the integration. Here’s how Microsoft services are getting affected:

Outlook.com Contacts

If you’re a new user, you won’t be able to connect your Facebook contacts to your Outlook.com account.

If you’ve previously connected your Facebook account to Outlook.com, your Facebook contacts will no longer be updated with information from Facebook.

Outlook.com, Windows , Windows Phone and Office 365 Calendar sync

Facebook events will no longer automatically sync to your Calendar on Outlook.com, Windows, Windows Phone and Office 365. As a workaround, you can subscribe to a link that Facebook provides from Outlook.com calendar.

When you connect that Outlook.com account with your Windows, Windows Phone, and/or Office 365 Outlook Calendar, the events that you subscribe to will sync across those apps.

Sign in to Facebook, then choose Events on the left side of the window.

On the lower right of the page, notice the message: “You can add your events to Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar. Once you add them, they’ll stay updated. Learn More. Upcoming Events. Birthdays.”.

Right-click Birthdays, (or long pause on a touch device), and choose Copy link address.

Sign in to your Outlook.com from a web browser, and go to Calendar.

Choose Import from the header.

Choose Subscribe on the left side, then paste the URL that you copied in step 3 in the Calendar URL box.

Enter a name for the new calendar and click Subscribe.

TIP You can also change the color or select a charm if you want, before choosing Subscribe.

Windows 8.1 People app

The People app on Windows 8.1 will no longer support the following features:

Facebook Connect – If you’ve connected the People app to Facebook on Windows 8.1, you’ll no longer be able to see any updates from your Facebook contacts in the app from now on. If you’re a new user, you won’t be able to add your Facebook account to the People app because the Connect feature is no longer supported.

Contact Sync – Contact information for the Facebook contacts shown will no longer be updated with information from Facebook.

Live Tile Notifications – People app tile notifications shown on the desktop will no longer include updates from Facebook.

Sharing via Charms Bar – Sharing content to Facebook contacts using the People app will no longer be supported.

Post, Like, Unlike, and Comment Activities – Posting updates to Facebook contacts via the People app will no longer be supported.

Windows 8 People app

The desktop People app on Windows 8 will continue to work, but it will no longer receive updates from Facebook for connected accounts. As a result, the What’s New and Notifications sections, contact information, and Live Tile notifications for Facebook contacts will no longer be updated with information from Facebook.

If you’re a new user, you won’t be able to add your Facebook account to the People app because the Connect feature is no longer supported.

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Calendar app

The Calendar app on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 will no longer receive birthday or event information updates for Facebook contacts. As a result, birthday or event information for Facebook contacts shown in the Calendar app’s Live Tile may become outdated.

Windows 8 Photo Gallery and Movie Maker

You will no longer be able to publish photos or videos directly to Facebook. But photos and videos that have been previously published to Facebook via Photo Gallery will remain published.

As a workaround, you can use Movie Maker to publish your movie project to your computer using the 1080p, 720p, or 480p profiles that are already built into Movie Maker. Then you can directly upload the final movie files to Facebook using Facebook website.

You can still use the Facebook website or Facebook app to upload photos to Facebook by selecting photos saved to your computer.

For more information, see the Windows Essentials Community Forum.

Windows 8 Photos App

You will no longer be able to view photos and videos that have been previously published to Facebook.

You can still use the Facebook website or Facebook app to upload photos to Facebook by selecting photos saved to your computer.

Windows Live Essentials Calendar and Contacts

The Windows Live Essentials Calendar and Contacts functionality will continue to work, but it will no longer receive birthday event or contact updates from Facebook for connected accounts. As a result, birthday events or contact information for the Facebook contacts may become outdated.

OneDrive Online

The Publish to sidebar link will no longer be available.

Any photos or videos that have been published previously will remain published.

You can still use the Facebook website or Facebook app to upload photos to Facebook by selecting photos from your OneDrive folder.

Outlook Social Connector in Outlook 2013

The Outlook Social Connector (OSC) connection to Facebook will no longer function, and you’ll see an “Invalid user name or password” error in the OSC connection dialog. As a result, content from Facebook such as the What’s New section and your Facebook profile picture won’t be updated.

You can remove your Facebook connection by selecting the X in the Outlook Social Connector window.

Office 365 Outlook Web App

The following features will no longer be available:

Facebook Connect – If you’ve connected to Facebook in Outlook Web App, your Facebook contacts will no longer be synchronized to your Office 365 account.

If you’re a new user, you won’t be able to connect to Facebook using Outlook Web App.

It’ll be interesting to see if both of the companies teams up to bring back these features in the future, however. What do you think? Discuss in the comment section below!

Source: Microsoft