Facebook Growler

This is a Growl application to get Facebook status updates from your news feed.
This app may not be working for anyone right now as Facebook has recently changed their login procedures. It may be a while before a fix is out. (posted 7 June 2013)

Important upgrade information: If you are upgrading from an earlier version, you will probably have to log out from the facebook applications page before everything will work correctly. Just go here: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=applications, remove the NewsFeedGrowler application, and then start up the Facebook Growler app. You may have to start the app twice after logging in the first time to get it to fully recognize the authentication.

Installation instructions: Install the software. Run the software. You should be presented with a facebook login form, so go ahead and log in. Next you should see a form requesting permission for the NewsFeedGrowler application. Sorry for the multiple personalities, but Facebook won’t allow applications with “Facebook” or “fb” in the title. See the included Readme file for details on the permissions, but the bottom line is this application will not post anything to your wall or make any other status updates. It is “read-only”.

If you want to “sign out” after you have run the program, go to http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=applications and remove “NewsFeedGrowler”. While you are there, you might want to scan through the other programs that have access to different parts of your facebook account and delete any that you don’t use any more.

Bugs with ver 2.0.0: None so far!

F.A.Q.:

1. Why are there things in my feed that are not being growled? Why do I sometimes see things growled but they aren’t in my newsfeed? It is strange, but the API’s for Facebook are not perfect. Things like that happen. I wish it was not the case, but many people report the same thing with other Facebook desktop apps.

So that’s it. Let me know what you think.

Download Facebook Growler (.msi) here. Version 2.0.0, (Downloaded 7271 times) Posted on 22 Jan 2012

Download Facebook Growler (.zip) here. Version 2.0.0, (Downloaded 3374 times) Posted on 22 Jan 2012

Changelog

ver 2.0.0 (22 January 2012) Revamped almost all code, improved logging, progress circle, .NET user settings (no more messy XML file), UI changes, put data retrieval on separate threads. This version was tested pretty extensively before release (thanks Aidan and Keith).

ver 1.3.1 (29 December 2011) Fixed bugs where the authentication page was displayed multiple times, and an error that would crash the program if there were missing keys in the configuration file. There is now a manual login/logout button on the form. Also added smarter logic to save form settings more automatically. (downloaded 538 times)

ver 1.3 (27 December 2011) Skipped ver 1.2. Added many options such as Messages & Chats, wall posts, Friend Requests, Notifications, and Pokes, Also streamlined the startup authentication procedure. This should be a pretty stable release. This version was removed after less than two days due to excessive nasty bugs. Downloaded 31 times.

ver 1.1 (29 June 2011) Added many options to select which Facebook events will be notified.  Also added option to check server for application updates. Downloaded 1684 times.

ver 0.1.0 Fixed a lot of bugs.  The program should be working for everyone now. Next version should include a lot of features and configuration options. Added an option to enable logging.  See the documentation and the xml configuration file for details.

Privacy Policy

My privacy policy is simple. I don’t care about your personal life. I will not collect anything about you, to include posts made on facebook, friends, email address, activities, etc. However, if you do send me a application troubleshooting log, it will probably contain that information. I will try to remind you when I ask for a log to review it for anything personal that you don’t want me to see. Other than that, I will not know anything about your use of this app. The only information sent from your app to my server is the version of the app that you are using. I use this to determine if you are using the latest version. If you are not using the latest version, you will get a notification that an update is available. The app update checking can also be turned off in the user settings, if you wish.