Facebook’s latest API changes led to a momentary setback in virtual romance on Wednesday, as Tinder users were trapped in a log-in loop and unable to access their account.
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the social media giant “promised to take a hard look at the information apps can use when you connect them to Facebook,” according to a blog post by CTO Mike Schroepfer yesterday.
However, it seems that the alterations made to its developer framework caused one of its affiliated apps, Tinder – which many users log-in with Facebook credentials, to run into problems.
Many users were receiving a message stating, “Tinder requires you provide additional Facebook permissions in order to use a Tinder account. This information is used to create fuller profiles, verify authenticity and provide support.”
A technical issue is preventing users from logging into Tinder. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to have everyone swiping again soon.
— Tinder (@Tinder) April 4, 2018
Both Facebook and Tinder confirmed the problem, and Facebook confirmed it was connected to the increased privacy restrictions.
Eager ‘swipers’ took to Twitter to voice their grievances, with many saying that they had either been kicked off the app and unable to log back in, or if successful in accessing their account, they had then lost all their crucial messages and matches – which would be pretty unfortunate if you were speaking to someone special.
I LOST ALL MY MESSAGES. WHAT IF I WAS SPEAKING TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE??? COME ON
— Bianca (@biianncaa1) April 4, 2018
Facebook broke tinder. Man. This generation may never forgive Mark.
— Oh, You know D. (@Dfapatterson) April 4, 2018
Other dating apps, including Bumble and Hinge, that also allow customers to use their Facebook credentials to create or log into accounts, didn’t appear to be affected by the social networking company’s privacy-related changes.
Tinder has since confirmed that the app is back up and running.
And we’re back! Apologies for the inconvenience. We missed you too. 💚 pic.twitter.com/796L1gLsCv
— Tinder (@Tinder) April 4, 2018
