Online and offline

Two 'Online and offline' stories July 2013 - December 2015

Facebook app will soon display new content & allow comments even when you’re offline

Modern ironies: a metro or train journey is one of those occasions when you have some time to catch up on your Facebook feed, but you often have no data connection or a very intermittent one. The company is currently testing a couple of features that should help.

The first is caching posts that have been downloaded but not yet viewed. When you’re offline, the app will display these posts.

We look at all the previously downloaded stories present on your phone that you have not yet viewed, and rank them based on their relevance. We also factor in whether the images for the story are available. This way we can immediately display relevant stories you haven’t seen yet, instead of showing a spinner while you wait for new stories.

Second, it will allow you to comment on posts even when offline, storing your comments in the app and then uploading them once you’re back online.

There’s no indication on when we’ll see the new features, but the fact that Facebook is sharing them suggests that they are likely to be introduced sooner rather than later.

Apple’s Developer Center is back after over a week offline

After being offline for more than a week, Apple’s Developer Center is back. Access to the portal was removed by Apple after it was discovered that a breach into the system granted individuals access to the names, mailing addresses, and email addresses of registered developers. Apple confirmed that sensitive personal data such as credit card information and developer passwords were encrypted and secure.

The Developer Center looks the same as it was prior to its removal, but we assume Apple has followed through with its promise to overhaul the entire system by updating its server software and rebuilding its databases from scratch so as to prevent another intrusion.

While most of the main developer services have returned, Apple is still in the process of restoring the entire portal to normal. Some areas of the site such as the forums, pre-release documentation, and development videos, are still offline as per Apple’s System Status page.

Apple has also emailed developers with this new information:

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