Liking a Facebook page from native iOS application - ios

Question

I am attempting to LIKE a business Facebook Like page (facebook.com/[LikePage]) from my native iOS application. I have used FB iOS SDK for login/logout purpose.
I have implemented the LIKE button similar to http://angelolloqui.com/blog/10-Facebook-Like-Button-on-iOS, which is an implementation of the social plugin on a webview. I did so, because of my understanding that to implement a custom LIKE button, I need to use the Built-in Like provided by FB which in turn would require that my actions be approved by FB.
However, it was brought to my notice that the social plugin implementation cannot be used in an iOS native application and can be used only in a mobile web app.
So, here are my questions :-
Is it true that native iOS applications cannot use the social plugin provided by facebook to like a Facebook Page ?
Is it true that in order to build a custom Like button and not the plugin, I need to use the Built-in Likes provided by Facebook, which in turn would require approval of my action types ? (In my case, LIKE a Page)
All I need is some concrete documentation which clearly lets me know which is the best way forward.
FYI, the business page URL's that need to be LIKEd, come dynamically from server.
Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

There's no API or automatic method to like facebook pages. The built-in open graph action, once approved, allows you to like other URLs which have Open Graph meta tags on them but not Facebook Pages.
The Like button plugin should work in a webview as far as I know.

Answer 2

You can just use a regular NSURLRequest to like the page, or use another library to make a post call to: https://graph.facebook.com/{PAGE_OR_OBJECT_ID}/likes. Make sure you add the acces_token as a parameter.
I use AFNetworking to post requests:
NSURL *baseURL = [NSURL URLWithString:#"https://graph.facebook.com/"];
AFHTTPClient *httpClient = [[AFHTTPClient alloc] initWithBaseURL:baseURL];
NSString *link = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"/%#/likes", myObjectID];
NSDictionary *params = #{#"access_token" : FBSession.activeSession.accessToken};
[httpClient postPath:link parameters:params success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *op, id result) {
NSLog(#"result %#", result);
} failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
NSLog(#"error %#", error);
}];

Answer 3

An update to this post:-
"With the release of the Facebook SDK version 4.28.0, the Like Button for iOS is deprecated. It will be supported until February 5, 2018."
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/ios/like-button

Answer 4

try this Code:
I think this will surely help you:
Fb like Widget can be embedded in our application. You just have to add a webView and get the Fb Like Widget html code/URL here.
in ViewController.h where you want to add fb like button:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface TestViewController : UIViewController <UIWebViewDelegate>
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIWebView * fbLikeWebView;
-(void)embedFBLikeButton;
#end
in TestViewController.m
#import "AboutUsViewController.h"
#implementation AboutUsViewController
#synthesize fbLikeWebView = _fbLikeWebView;
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
//Add this code for FbLike Webview
self.fbLikeWebView = [[UIWebView alloc] initWithFrame: CGRectMake(100.0, 50.0, 55.0, 70.0)];
_fbLikeWebView.opaque = NO;
_fbLikeWebView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
_fbLikeWebView.delegate = self;
[self.view addSubview:_fbLikeWebView];
for (UIScrollView *subview in _fbLikeWebView.subviews)
{
if ([subview isKindOfClass:[UIScrollView class]]) {
subview.scrollEnabled = NO;
subview.bounces = NO;
}
}
}
then in ViewWillAppear method call the enbeddFBLikeButton Method to add the fbLike button wigdet on web view:
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
[self embedFBLikeButton];
[_fbLikeWebView reload];
}
-(void)embedFBLikeButton
{
NSString *facebookUrl = //here paste the url you get from fb developer link above;
[self.fbLikeWebView loadRequest:[NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:facebookUrl]]];
}
You conform to UIWebViewDelegate now its turn to defining th edelegate method here:
#pragma mark - WebView Delgate Methods
- (BOOL)webView:(UIWebView *)webview shouldStartLoadWithRequest:(NSURLRequest *)request navigationType:(UIWebViewNavigationType)navigationType
{
if ([request.URL.lastPathComponent isEqualToString:#"login.php"])
{
[self login];
return NO;
}
return YES;
}
-(void)webView:(UIWebView *)webView didFailLoadWithError:(NSError *)error
{
[_fbLikeWebView stopLoading];
}
This method for login the user to facebook Account:
- (void)login
{
[FBSession setActiveSession: [[FBSession alloc] initWithPermissions:#[#"publish_actions", #"publish_stream", #"user_photos"]]];
[[FBSession activeSession] openWithBehavior: FBSessionLoginBehaviorForcingWebView completionHandler:^(FBSession *session, FBSessionState status, NSError *error) {
switch (status) {
case FBSessionStateOpen:
// call the legacy session delegate
//Now the session is open do corresponding UI changes
if (session.isOpen) {
FBRequest *me = [FBRequest requestForMe];
[me startWithCompletionHandler: ^(FBRequestConnection *connection,
NSDictionary<FBGraphUser> *my,
NSError *error) {
if (!my) {
NSLog(#"Facebook error:\n%#", error.description);
[[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle: #"Error"
message: #"Facebook Login error."
delegate: self
cancelButtonTitle: #"Ok"
otherButtonTitles: nil, nil] show];
return;
}
}];
[_fbLikeWebView reload];
[[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle: #""
message: #"Successfully Login. Please click on like button"
delegate: self
cancelButtonTitle: #"Ok"
otherButtonTitles: nil, nil] show];
}
break;
case FBSessionStateClosedLoginFailed:
{
[_fbLikeWebView reload];
}
break;
default:
break; // so we do nothing in response to those state transitions
}
}];
}
Enjoy Coding!!!