Facebook chat problems

[ninjaap]

Im not receiving my friends messages through integrated FB chat, but I do get a notification via FB app. I can send messages but not receive. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Dagolara]

I have this issue at times that seems to fix it self if I change my status on the phone from online to offline then back online again.

 

[ninjaap]

It does seem to be an intermittent problem, Dagolara. I was able to have a back and forth conversation with others and others not. I wish there was a definite fix, because I've missed quite a few messages already.

 

[jeff4L]

I get that too sometimes. I found out the messages you send are sent faster than the ones you receive by your friend. It could possibly be a lag?

 

[ninjaap]

There are times when they initiate the chat and I never receive it on my phone. Therefore, I never respond. But since I've started using the FB i get notifications of messages. That's when i started realizing the problem.

 

[N8ter]

Can be because of two issues:

1. They may be replying using the Facebook Messaging function instead of the Chat Box. If they are using Facebook's first-party Messages application on Android or iOS that app may be giving them the notifications which sort of changes how the messages are seen by third party clients.

2. The Integrated WLM/FB Chat functionality in WP7 is broken in the way it handles Multiple Points of Presence (MPOPs). If you initiate a conversation from a PC and move it to a phone often-times you will stop recieving incoming messages, even though you can send messages to anyone. Sometimes resetting your online status works (going offline and immediately back online). Sometimes I have reboot my phone to fix it. It's not a protocol issue, becuase I tried it across three devices + 2 PCs and like 5+ different clients. Only my WP7 device broke when I moved the conversation to the phone.

The reason why the Facebook application will still notify you of those "Messages" is because Notifications for Messages is supported by that app. The integrated WLM/FB Chat Client does not support Facebook's Messaging system (not to be confused with their Chat functionality), therefor you will not see those messages unless you have the FB app installed.

"Messages" in the FB App != "Chat". They're analogous to Direct Messages on Twitter.

 

[ninjaap]

I think both scenarios have occurred. Thank you for well laid explanation. Makes plenty sense to me.

 

[MrBurrrns]

Can be because of two issues:

1. They may be replying using the Facebook Messaging function instead of the Chat Box. If they are using Facebook's first-party Messages application on Android or iOS that app may be giving them the notifications which sort of changes how the messages are seen by third party clients.

2. The Integrated WLM/FB Chat functionality in WP7 is broken in the way it handles Multiple Points of Presence (MPOPs). If you initiate a conversation from a PC and move it to a phone often-times you will stop recieving incoming messages, even though you can send messages to anyone. Sometimes resetting your online status works (going offline and immediately back online). Sometimes I have reboot my phone to fix it. It's not a protocol issue, becuase I tried it across three devices + 2 PCs and like 5+ different clients. Only my WP7 device broke when I moved the conversation to the phone.

The reason why the Facebook application will still notify you of those "Messages" is because Notifications for Messages is supported by that app. The integrated WLM/FB Chat Client does not support Facebook's Messaging system (not to be confused with their Chat functionality), therefor you will not see those messages unless you have the FB app installed.

"Messages" in the FB App != "Chat". They're analogous to Direct Messages on Twitter.

I think it's a bit more complicated than that. Facebook unified the messaging system, but it's obviously still causing problems with third party clients, not just WP. Even when you use something like meebo/imo some messages are never received. I am not sure who needs to fix this but it would be great if they would do, because as it is right now, the Facebook chat integration is pretty much useless.

Which really sucks because there is really no working (and reliable!) IM option on WP. For me this is one of the biggest problems of WP.

 

[N8ter]

It's not a Facebook issue. They have made changes to the system. A Facebook Chat client is useless if it does not also support pushing Offline Messages because of the Nature of the Service. This is why Facebook also released the Facebook Messenger App on iOS/Android/BB.

Too many people use Facebook primarily through a Browser and Facebook Messages Agregates both FB Chat and FB Offline Messages into a single User Interface on the website. When they get your Chat Message - in Facebook Messages interface - and reply to it, their reply is via a Message, not an IM. That is why you do not get a PUSH notification from the Chat Client, but from the Facebook App. ((This is part of the reason some of us have always said the App is pretty much a requirement if you're a facebook user, even with the FB integration on the phone...))

Unless Facebook makes changes to remedy it, this issue is always going to exist, but they had to do it to ensure that communication is reliable on their social networks. A lot of people on FB use it primarily through a Web Browser, and with the Chat Module turned off (it can be intrusive, I've ALWAYS had it turned off and my PC is a beast). Agregating all message types into a single user interface makes for a better user experience on the web. In the future, who knows, they may do away with the actual IM service and just do PUSHed Messages, anyways...

Apps simply need to build in support for Pushing both FB Messages and FB IM and agregating it into one feed, then you won't have to worry about the breaks.

The issue I described with the chat client breaking happens also with Windows Live Messenger. It has nothing to do with Facebook. The IM client in Mango is just bad at handling multiple points of presence. I tested it across 4 platforms with over 6 IM clients. Only the WP7 client breaks in that way.

 

[ninjaap]

Interesting. So long story short, if sender uses messaging to send or reply, it will not get pushed to chat?

 

[martin_strahilovski]

Im not receiving my friends messages through integrated FB chat, but I do get a notification via FB app. I can send messages but not receive. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Well i think the problem is in the FB servers that WP7.5 is using. Or maybe i'm wrong, try restarting your phone

 

[N8ter]

Interesting. So long story short, if sender uses messaging to send or reply, it will not get pushed to chat?

Correct. Messages aren't chat. They're messages.

However the messages UI on the Facebook website and in the Facebook messages application aggregates both messages and IMs into one feed. If you use a platform with Official Facebook and Messages apps it doesn't matter since the Messages app will push all IMs and Messages to you within that one app. If you aren't on one of those platforms, then you end up with the issues described by the OP.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[MrBurrrns]

I am sorry N8ter, but where do you have that explanation from? What you wrote makes perfect sense, but it simply does not work like that.

 

[N8ter]

Quoted myself and double posted trying to edit. Sorry. See below.

 

[N8ter]

From testing It On Android IOS and wp7.

If I reply via Messages My message never shows up in the chat window, even though the chat from the other person showed up in messages. That's cause that facebook app aggregates all messages types in one feed. It's like a universal inbox for facebook.

Microsoft facebook app doesn't work like the facebook messages app, that's why it only gets push notification for one type of message.

If someone replies to your chat message in facebook from the messages interface or the facebook messages app, it will send it as a message instead of an IM and the Mango IM client will not get it.

However you'll eventually get a push notification from the Microsoft Facebook app for the new message.

That's the way it works. On iOS and Android push Notifications for chat and messages almost always come from the Facebook Messenger application first because of the way Facebook quasi-merged their messaging systems.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[MrBurrrns]

Well, that is all nice and fine, but it's what you ASSUME. You do not know that for sure. And as I wrote, I had cases where I did not receive chat messages that were definitely sent from the Facebook chat.

Regardless of the cause, I think we can all agree that it's one big mess and it needs to be fixed because as it is now, the Facebook integration in WP is very unreliable. Which is a real shame.

 

[N8ter]

That's not an assumption, that's fact.

Did you test it with an iOS/Android/WP7 device and a PC and Laptop sitting in front of you.

It is not difficult.

Microsoft should have fixed that in Mango. It's not facebook's fault a third party application fails to work properly with their service. Their first-party apps work flawlessly across all platforms.