Facebook rolls out a Anonymous Login button, and customized permissions for apps

By Williams Pelegrin April 30, 2014

facebook anonymous login button log in anonymously flipboard — Image used with permission by copyright holder

While some people are fine with logging into applications using their Facebook account, others don’t feel the same way. Unfortunately, if they want to try out an application, they have to sign into an account to do so, with one of them being your Facebook account. During Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference, the company addressed this by introducing Anonymous Login.

With Anonymous Login, you can try out a new app without having to create a new account. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “This will let you try apps without fear.” Essentially a stealth mode, Anonymous Login doesn’t share your Facebook account data with that app.

However, for those who don’t mind logging into apps with their Facebook account, you can now parse out permissions. In other words, you can now go through permissions line by line. If you don’t want the app to access your friends list and birthday, for example, you can now choose to not have the app access that information.

Facebook’s goal with these news ways to login is to help people trust developers and their apps. “One of the things we’ve heard is people want more control over how they share their information,” said Zuckerberg. It seems that transparency is the word of the day with Facebook, though because developers must implement these tools, the new logins are on an app-by-app basis.

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Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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