Facebook UnNamed App is not a spybot!
January 27th, 2010 . by Alan HartPeople are following the usual activity of updating their facebook status to inform others of scams etc but again by trying to warn others they are in fact doing exactly what the “scammers” want.
Here’s the latest, an “UnNamed App Internal SpyBot Hoax”…
ALERT >>>>> Has your facebook been running slow lately? Go to “Settings” and select “application settings”, change the dropdown box to “added to profile”. If you see one in there called “un named app” delete it… Its an internal spybot. Pass it on. about a minute ago….i checked and it was on mine.
it is NOT a virus or spyware, it is your “Boxes” tab, and Facebook is going to be getting rid of it soon, you can remove it yourself from your edit applications list if you want… not sure if Facebook will be replacing it with something else yet.
“Due to a small bug, an application listed as ‘Unnamed App’ appeared in some users’ Applications Settings,” spokeswoman Malorie Lucich said in an e-mail to CNN. “No user accounts or data were lost or damaged.”
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/27/facebook.bug/
Please also be aware that when searching for this on Google I ended up at a page which wil tell you that your pc needs a scan (this is malware/spyware). So please be careful, it seems that whoever started this facebook “status” is just trying to get people googling and direct you to this harmful page.
How do you know this? Your source link doesn’t say anything about “unnamed app”. If this is true, why don’t the Facebook people make this announcement?
[...] Alan Davies has posted information which I am going to quote verbatim in an effort to get this info to as many people as possible: it is NOT a virus or spyware, it is your “Boxes” tab, and Facebook is going to be getting rid of it soon, you can remove it yourself from your edit applications list if you want… not sure if Facebook will be replacing it with something else yet Source(s): http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Tabbed_Profile [...]
I have to admit tho, my facebook was lagging a fair bit, and straight away, after removing the tab, it is so much faster. Hoax or not, it has without a doubt improved my facebook.
It’s the Boxes Tab, FB is removing this feature from our profiles so right now it’s in limbo and showing up as unnamed. if you remove this app you will notice your boxes tab disappears!
the source link is to highlight the announcement:
“Facebook is deprecating the profile boxes and the Boxes tab in late 2009/early 2010, as per our announcement.”
If this unnamed app was a virus or spyware then facebook would block and remove the app and it’s developer. and besides,I’d imagine that it’s quite difficult for facebook to manage rumors when you have 350 million members and the vast majority of them copy and paste anything they’re told to without looking into it first!
Test it yourself. Delete the “unknown app”, then check your profile page. “Boxes” will be gone.
To put it back (courtesy Yahoo Answers, and I’ve tested this myself):
1. go back to the page where you removed the Unnamed App from.
2. select “edit settings” for an app under the “added profile boxes” section
3. click remove, then click add when it appears.
If you delete the unnamed app and then look at your profile the boxes tab dissappears so seems like a reasonable conclusion.
Hackers are geniuses.
[...] Facebook UnNamed App Is Not A Spybot! – Alan Hart – Web Design ALERT >>>>> Has your facebook been running slow lately? Go to “Settings” and select “application settings”, change the dropdown box to “added to profile”. If you see one in there called “un named app” delete it… Its an internal spyb… [...]
Yeah, boxes tab disappears BUT facebook is also A LOT faster and smoother after deleting the app. Don’t ignore that.
Rather boxes gone and fb fast.
so you say facebook wouldnt allow spybots or hackers what about all the groups that have no admin and tell you to invite all your friends and then refresh your page they are hacking everyone please i aint taking no chances all my facebook is on permanant lock down from now on.
@dell: It’s not against the rules to ask people to invite all their friends to a group! lol
Is it possible to get it back?
@Wenc: See comment #5 above for how to get it back.
I think this link is hilarious. http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=unnamed%20app&gl=1 How fast it spreads!
Mine is faster also after removing.
Added this tp my facebook status.
@dell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7_3RLtptk8
[...] to this blog posting, this “Unnamed app” is the “Boxes Tab” and Facebook will be removing it [...]
Not true, I deleted the un named app and by boxes tab is still there!
ok I clicked it off . How do I undo it and get it back ??
when its deleted so much faster to surf on facebook so slow before
WTF some ones not telling the truth here…
my Box tab is still there! and i removed the “unnamed app”
i deleted this but i want it back, i have it there but when i go to edit settings i get an error message, what am i to do now?
i deleted mine also and mine is SOOOOOO much faster… games load superfast.. never had them load so fast.. im keeping it off..thanx for the info tho..
Hm, could be true either way. My boxes tab has gone. If you look up internal spybot and click on one of the sites it does come up with a warning etc…
But…. My facebook is running alot smoother. So must of been something wrong with that ‘un named application’ anyway. I don’t think anyone’s lying…..
Regardless of if the box tabs are there or not, the point that needs to be stressed here is the fact that its not a SPYBOT and people really need to check this stuff out, but for most….its just easier for them to pass it on than to take a few minutes to check it out.
If this was a universal app, then please explain to me why my acct had the “unnamed app” and my husband’s acct did not. I am seriously confused. Thanks!
my boxes have gone and I can’t get them back, even tried the way written above! Shoulda checked itout first! and actually, facebook is running slower now!!! keep getting and error message! (
Calm down everyone, it appears that “Boxes” is stuck somewhere between the old and the new right now. Facebook always seems to act strangely during/between updates.
You can re-add apps to your Boxes tab by using Edit Settings for that app, then clicking (add) after Box: Available (add).
I removed the Unnamed application, my facebook ismuch faster and I got back some features that were disabled for a while for who knows what reason… And, my box tab is still there…
this is worth a read regarding FB security:
http://www.switched.com/2010/01/15/anonymous-employee-reveals-ugly-details-of-facebooks-inner-work/?icid=main|netscape|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.switched.com%2F2010%2F01%2F15%2Fanonymous-employee-reveals-ugly-details-of-facebooks-inner-work%2F
Facebook don’t allow spyware?? Really?? How do you explain the use of i.esnare in some of their apps then?? I removed the tab and my fb is running faster now than it ever did. I’de rather that than some tab bar I never used anyway.
getting rid of the boxes has got to be a good thing, even better than when they were moved to separate tab so as not clutter up profile pages.
Custom boxes and such like was the death of myspace – even on fast connections, when you opened a page with dozens of self-starting video clips, glittering backgrounds and music tracks, it killed any useability.
Good riddance to the chaff.
i removed them. i didnt loose my boxes though.
I deleted this app – and the boxes tab is there, but now my twitter updates stopped. Any correlation?
I removed and my Boxes tab is still there…FB runs much smoother and faster……Personally I have removed many viruses off of my computer from using FB, so, I’m not taking any chances! :)
You say we should looked into it first. I got the message yesterday and deleted it 1/26/ 2010. I searched internal spybot that night to see what it was and what it does. This page was not here, why did it take so long to create the page explaining all this?
You say we should have looked into it first. I got the message two days ago and deleted it 1/25/ 2010. I searched internal spybot that night to see what it was and what it does. This page was not here, why did it take so long to create the page explaining all this?
Here’s some more info on it, and how to fix your Boxes tab if anyone fell for the hoax:
http://geekdrop.com/content/facebook-spybot-how-to-remove
This UNNAMED APP is NOT the BOXES tab. I never had the BOXES tab installed and this thing did exist on my Facebook Profile. I deleted it and it did no harm. My Facebook and other applications have sped up tremendously after deleting it.
Here is an article from CNN on the UNNAMED APP. Facebook says it was some sort of glitch or bug. However, Facebook claims they have fixed it. I don’t believe Facebook. I still believe it was some sort of spybot.
Oops forgot to post the link.
Facebook ‘unnamed app’ bug is fixed
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/27/facebook.bug/
Well my Fb was desperately slow & stuck, I didn’t remove any app. and it still got quicker yesterday and works normally now. So apparently they have fixed a bug, and that’s it. It just mislead some people that they had just removed the application, and (almost) simultaneously Fb was fixed… Amen
Facebook home page loads as does live feed but when click settings or events or links I just get blank page also was daily mafia wars player but now when try to access it I keep getting blank can anyone help I use fb on iPhone and get same results using safari or the iPhone app