Facebook’s new restrictions on third-party apps have made popular dating app Tinder unusable, leading users to an endless cycle of login errors.
Popular dating app Tinder was briefly broken for some users on Wednesday due to outages in its Facebook login process.
The app led users to an endless cycle of login errors and malfunctioned after sweeping changes to Facebook ’s restrictions on third-party apps and terms of service .
Tinder acknowledged the issue but did not cite Facebook as the cause, and neither company immediately responded with a comment. Search results for Tinder and Facebook outages are strongly correlated, and the error appears to be fixed.
If the error is linked to Facebook, it could have widespread implications for other developers that rely on the massive social networking platform.
Facebook’s CTO announced a slew of new privacy measures on Wednesday afternoon as a response to the ongoing criticism the social media company has faced regarding its handling of user data. Facebook had previously allowed third-party apps like Tinder to request user data, but today announced that they will no longer allow apps to ask for access to personal information.
Tinder requires its users to link their profiles to a Facebook account for verification and profile details. The user is required to authorize Tinder’s use of their personal data, then the app pulls in users‘ name, age, photos, interests and more.
When users open the Tinder app, they are asked to sign in via Facebook and led to a dialog box asking for additional permissions. Tapping „Ask Me“ sends users into an endless cycle of unsuccessful logins and faulty permissions.
Similar mobile dating apps Bumble and OkCupid (which, like Tinder, is an Match Group company) did not appear to be affected by the new privacy rules despite their requests for personal user information like birthdays and friends lists. Tinder collects users‘ interests and displays them on profiles whereas the other two apps do not.
