FBFriendPickerViewController showing and empty table on iOS. Place Picker running fine - ios

Question

I have this code, copied from FB samples (where it runs fine), but in my App is showing just a blank table for the Friend Picker. Place Picker is running fine showing a full table.
What´s wrong with Friend Picker?
In the AppDelegate:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
// Override point for customization after application launch.
[FBFriendPickerViewController class];
[FBPlacePickerViewController class];
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
openURL:(NSURL *)url
sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication
annotation:(id)annotation {
return [FBAppCall handleOpenURL:url sourceApplication:sourceApplication];
}
In the View Controller:
- (IBAction)pickFriendsButtonClick:(id)sender {
// FBSample logic
// if the session is open, then load the data for our view controller
if (!FBSession.activeSession.isOpen) {
// if the session is closed, then we open it here, and establish a handler for state changes
[FBSession openActiveSessionWithReadPermissions:#[#"public_profile", #"user_friends"]
allowLoginUI:YES
completionHandler:^(FBSession *session,
FBSessionState state,
NSError *error) {
if (error) {
UIAlertView *alertView = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"Error"
message:error.localizedDescription
delegate:nil
cancelButtonTitle:#"OK"
otherButtonTitles:nil];
[alertView show];
} else if (session.isOpen) {
[self pickFriendsButtonClick:sender];
}
}];
return;
}
// Create friend picker, and get data loaded into it.
FBFriendPickerViewController *friendPickerController = [[FBFriendPickerViewController alloc] init];
friendPickerController.title = #"Pick Friends";
friendPickerController.delegate = self;
[friendPickerController loadData];
[friendPickerController presentModallyFromViewController:self animated:YES handler:nil];
}
- (IBAction)pickPlacesButtonClick:(id)sender{
// FBSample logic
// if the session is open, then load the data for our view controller
if (!FBSession.activeSession.isOpen) {
// if the session is closed, then we open it here, and establish a handler for state changes
[FBSession openActiveSessionWithReadPermissions:#[#"public_profile", #"user_friends"]
allowLoginUI:YES
completionHandler:^(FBSession *session,
FBSessionState state,
NSError *error) {
if (error) {
UIAlertView *alertView = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"Error"
message:error.localizedDescription
delegate:nil
cancelButtonTitle:#"OK"
otherButtonTitles:nil];
[alertView show];
} else if (session.isOpen) {
[self pickPlacesButtonClick:sender];
}
}];
return;
}
// Initialize the place picker
FBPlacePickerViewController *placePickerController = [[FBPlacePickerViewController alloc] init];
// Set the place picker title
placePickerController.title = #"Pick Place";
// Hard code current location to Menlo Park, CA
placePickerController.locationCoordinate = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(37.453827, -122.182187);
// Configure the additional search parameters
placePickerController.radiusInMeters = 1000;
placePickerController.resultsLimit = 50;
placePickerController.searchText = #"restaurant";
placePickerController.delegate = self;
// Load the place data
[placePickerController loadData];
// Show the place picker modally
[placePickerController presentModallyFromViewController:self animated:YES handler:nil];
}
- (void)facebookViewControllerDoneWasPressed:(id)sender {
NSLog(#"Done pressed");
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:NULL];
}
- (void)facebookViewControllerCancelWasPressed:(id)sender {
NSLog(#"Cancel pressed");
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:NULL];
}
Project:
Made a brand new Project with just a Single View.
Added 2 buttons and connected them with the action.
Copy/Paste the code from the sample.
Add the Facebook Framework.
Edit the plist file to add the Facebook Application numbers.
My table (Place Picker) is full for restaurants.
My table (Friend Picker) is still empty. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

step 1: open Facebook session if not exist
if ( !FBSession.activeSession.isOpen ) {
[FBSession openActiveSessionWithPermissions:#[#"public_profile", #"email", #"user_friends" ]
allowLoginUI:YES
completionHandler:^(FBSession *session, FBSessionState state, NSError *error) {
[self sessionStateChanged:session state:state error:error];
}];
}
step 2: request to get friends list (include require fields)
FBRequest* friendsRequest = [FBRequest requestWithGraphPath:#"me/friends?fields=picture,name,username,location,first_name,last_name" parameters:nil HTTPMethod:#"GET"];
[friendsRequest startWithCompletionHandler: ^(FBRequestConnection *connection, NSDictionary* result, NSError *error) {
//store result into facebookFriendsArray
self.facebookFriendsArray = [result objectForKey:#"data"];
}];
step 3: reload data to tableView from facebookFriendsArray

Answer 2

A couple of things you need to consider that are not explained well by Facebook in the current docs.
The users appearing in the friend picker are only users that have installed the app themselves. This is newer, probably not applicable at the time of the original post.
You need the user_friends permission from the user to see any friends.
Some more here: Facebook iOS Select Friends Table Blank

Answer 3

According to the latest Facebook API (v 2.0) you can not pick friends list directly. By default you can access only three permissions that are email, public_profile and user_friends.
For any additional permission you are required to ask Facebook (you can do it from Facebook developer account where you have created app) and also read change log because again apps created on or after 30 April, 2014 can not access old APIs.
if you have app created before stated date then use old Facebook API (I would recommend 3.13.1) and deprecated function (openActiveSessionWithPermissions) to create FBSession.
I had same issue and took me long to figure out. let me know if you have any trouble.

Answer 4

Make sure the permissions array you are using on user sign up includes the user_friends permission. If you're copying code it's easy to miss.
NSArray *permissionsArray = #[ #"public_profile", #"user_friends"];
Reference the array on Sign Up:
[PFFacebookUtils logInWithPermissions:permissionsArray block:^(PFUser *user, NSError *error) {
...
];
Then do the following in FB developer dashboard:
Create at least 2 test users
Set them to friends with each other
And on your app:
Have each user log in and provide permissions for your app (FB will only show users who are friends AND using the app)
The second user should be able to see the first user in their friend list.