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Facebook aims to declutter the iOS Contacts app by no longer syncing friends without useful contact info

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Facebook-Contacts-iOS-6Over the past week a number of 9to5 readers have noticed issues with their Facebook contacts within the Contacts app on iOS 6 and up that are automatically synced when logging into Facebook through Settings. Some users have taken to the Apple support forums to discuss the problem, noting that a large portion of their contacts from Facebook no longer appear in the iOS Contacts app. Rather than a bug, we reached out to Facebook about the problem who told us it’s actually Facebook’s new effort to remove “phone book entries that were not useful.”

In other words, Facebook is trying to remove some of the spam from your iOS Contacts app by no longer syncing friends that have no useful contact information. According to a Facebook spokesperson, friends that have no contact information on their profile other than a @facebook.com email address will not be synced to the Contacts address book going forward.

The result, of course, is you might notice more than a few of your Facebook friends disappearing from Contacts. You can always add them back manually, but Facebook is thinking the majority of users will be happy with its decision to declutter its iOS sync feature. 
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Find My Facebook Friends app forced to change name – becomes ‘Locate’

Developers of the Find My Facebook Friends app have had quite a rough time getting their app past Apple’s App Store review team. The app was originally called “Find My Friends For Facebook” until Apple rejected the app name and icon for being too similar to its own Find My Friends app, forcing the developers to resubmit the app with a new icon and name. While the app has been live in the App Store and steadily growing among users as “Find My Facebook Friends” since March, the developer told us today that it is once again being forced to change its name—but this time by Facebook.

After a few emails with Facebook’s Platform Operations team, Find My Facebook Friends has now been renamed “Locate”. Facebook also requested the developer remove the “f” logo, and then alter the white silhouette used in its icon. It appears Facebook’s platform policy and trademark rights allow iOS developers to use “for Facebook” in their app titles to clearly indicate the app is “for” Facebook and not an official app. However, there are many apps, such as Facebook Chat+, that seem to violate Facebook’s policies the same as Find My Facebook Friends, and they have been available in the App Store for almost a year. The developer noted Facebook contacted him after briefly testing its location-based Find Friends Nearby feature, which did not include the exact same functionality. However, it could easily be confused with Find My Facebook Friends by its title alone. The app still includes the same features, allowing you to locate Facebook friends on a map, receive proximity alerts, and more, but it is now available as “Locate: Real-time Location Sharing for Facebook” in the App Store.