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Can I create or manage a Facebook app via a 'business' account?

When I try to access https://developers.facebook.com/apps when logged in as a business account it redirects me back to my homepage and won't let me create an app.

Context: A business / advertising account (sometimes called a 'gray account') is a special, now-deprecated type of account Facebook provided to advertisers to manage their Ads and Pages before Business Manager launched - the primary reason people want to use a business account with an App is to link the existing App to the Ad account so Ads can be driven to the application.

Is there any way to manage or create a Facebook app using a business / gray account?

Igy
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    Apart from being an FAQ I'd love to see a canonical answer for; as someone said on an earlier, closed, version of this question, this should probably stay open as: "It's a question about how to develop a Facebook app, and therefore about "software development in some way", therefore on topic. It's also a "practical, answerable question based on actual problems that were faced" – Igy May 29 '12 at 19:54
  • I'm closing this question as off-topic because it is not about a practical programming problem as outlined in the [help/on-topic]." – Martijn Pieters Jul 30 '16 at 07:33

2 Answers2

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'Business' or advertising accounts can't manage apps - if at some point in the past you were able to create an app using a business account this was a bug or loophole and shouldn't have been possible - only real verified user accounts should be able to create and manage apps.

It's also possible to have a Business account which owns apps if you created a fake user account, created apps, and later converted your user account into a business account or had Facebook do it for you.

If you need to share ownership of the app between multiple people

You can do this by making all of the admins/developers working on the app developers or admins directly via the API or the 'Roles' tab of the App settings: Role management screen

If you need to run ads for the app using a business account

You can specify which business accounts will manage the ads for an app in the app settings on the Advanced tab - add the email address used to manage the ads.

This is the only supported connection between apps and business accounts.

Screenshot below:

Advertising Accounts section of app settings

Peter O.
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Igy
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  • I couldn't find an official statement saying what type of account you need to open an application with. I guess you would have put it in if it existed... – Lix May 29 '12 at 21:29
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    I don't believe we actively document things in the negative - but we've listed these requirements to admin an app - https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=117200265032897 for example; business accounts are pretty limited in what they can do, effectively they can only access page management and ad management tools on Facebook.com – Igy May 29 '12 at 21:34
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    So what happens when the person who registered the app leaves the company???? I need to know. – Theodore R. Smith Oct 27 '12 at 11:15
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    They give access to their replacement(s) - it's an awful, AWFUL idea to have only a single admin of an app or page for several reasons - if the last admin has their account disabled or they deactivate or delete it the app is automatically removed by Facebook – Igy Oct 27 '12 at 19:36
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    Igy: What happens when: someone creates business account and register as developer with a mobile number, then find out its impossible to set up facebook login with that account and decide to create personal account. Then it makes imposible to register as developer with mobile number used before (for business account). I've tired to report the problem to Facebook, but got standard reply: they connot reply to all bug reports but it will be used to improve service - whatever it means. Is the only solution to get a new mobile number? All I need from Facebook is to set up Facebook Login Provider. – Wojciech Markowski Sep 09 '13 at 22:58
  • I just got snagged by the very ugly situation described above by Wojciech. ***The phone number you're trying to verify was recently used to verify a different account. Please try a different number.*** – subsci Oct 25 '13 at 18:22
  • There should be a 1-1 mapping between account and (verification) phone number; you can also verify by adding a credit card if you don't have another number – Igy Oct 25 '13 at 18:37
  • that's exactly what I don't want to do: ***give*** my credit card number to facebook; as a privacy seeker giving up my mobile number was enough of a breach. AND BTW I don't get an option on the Registration dialog to enter a credit card number; just an infinite loop telling me I cannot reuse my mobile. – subsci Oct 25 '13 at 18:45
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    Regarding: ***The phone number you're trying to verify was recently used to verify a different account. Please try a different number***, there is a way to remove the phone number from the business account (as I recall under the mobile menu item). You need to wait about a day to be able to use the number to Register as Developer on a regular account. Another note, you cannot completely opt out of the Facebook Platform and also register as a developer. As I recall under the Apps menu item you can opt into Developer (and opt out of everything else to preserve your privacy if you wish) – subsci Oct 28 '13 at 17:29
  • I managed to transfer my pages from a business account into a new personal account so I could use the API, but this triggered some sort of "hacker" filter, and so this personal account is now blocked every month or so and all pages unpublished, although I don't use the personal account, and the pages never had problems before (neither broke the TOS). Before, I could unblock it by sending a photograph, but now it asks for a mobile code that doesn't work (I input the code and it requests it again and again in a loop).After months of struggle, I am really tired of this... Support is non-existent. – admirabilis Nov 27 '17 at 13:36
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Strictly speaking I'm not answering the specific question you have at the end about gray accounts, but answering the bigger overall question about business accounts in the new world.

Since the original question was asked, Facebook has introduced the Facebook Business Manager which enables businesses to have a single place to manage pages, ad accounts and apps.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/business-manager

You login to the business manager via your facebook login, but it can have a business email and name etc. associated with it. The administrators can add other people and modify their permissions, and it keeps peoples business identity and personal identity separate.

Significantly, if you have more than one app and they are associated with your business via business manager, you will get the same User ID for a given user whichever app they are using. If you don't do this, you won't, because the User Id is normally scoped to each app.

So this new world gives the benefits that a) apps can be managed via a business identity b) apps which belong to the same business can report the same User Id, which makes it easier to track and co-ordinate activity by users across several of your apps.

Alex White
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    As of today it's not possible to delegate access to app administration via business manager, it's still necessary to add the real users via the Roles tab, and ad accounts into the app settings for the purposes of advertising the app – Igy Apr 17 '15 at 20:27