Facebook iOS SDK 3.1 asking for read and publish permission

Question

In the new 3.1 iOS SDK we are no longer allowed to ask for read and publish permissions at the same time, and we have to ask for read permissions before asking for publish permissions. In my app there is a share button after completing an activity. When the user presses this button I want to ask them for publish permission and then publish a story to their feed. However, the user may not have authorized the app with read permissions at this time.

At this point the user has indicated they want to share via facebook, but I can't ask them for just publish permissions, and I can't ask for read and publish permissions together, and I can't ask them for read permissions and then publish permissions back to back (according to the documentation). I don't want to prompt the user for read permissions when they log in or start the app because there is a good chance they won't ever use these features and I don't want to unnecessarily bother users.

Even though the documentation says it is not allowed, I can ask for the two types of permissions back to back but this results in two pop up boxes one right after the other with a delay in between. This feels like a hack and may confuse users.

Is this really the new desired behavior and what I'm trying to do is not possible, or is there something I'm just not understanding?

Thanks

Answer 1

You are correct that we strongly advise against back-to-back permissions, and you are unlikely to get your app approved if you do.

Perhaps embrace the opportunity to ask for basic information up-front. Even if it is for some simple personalization (such as avatar and name) you will be able to build trust in advance of the publish action - and increment towards a social experience in general.

(Also, it is less likely that a people will be confident about letting you publish on their behalf from a 'cold start' anyway.)