873385 - Facebook Photos rendered in news feed are being rendered in poor quality on a FF OS user agent, but in good quality on a Android user agent

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Web Compatibility :: Site Reports, defect, P1)

Description

[Jason Smith [:jsmith]]

Attachment: Screenshot Comparison

Migration of bug 873379 of what the actual problem is.

Apparently photos rendered from Facebook in news feeds under a FF OS user agent have a poor resolution that's poor quality. When viewing the same content under the Android user agent, the images are rendered in acceptable quality with a correct resolution.

Needs some more analysis here as to why this is happening and under what specific Android user agents.

Comment 1

[Leo]

The same impact of quality can be observed with detail view of images, also external video links doesn't seem to open.

Comment 3

[Jason Smith [:jsmith]]

(In reply to Leo from comment #1)
> The same impact of quality can be observed with detail view of images, also
> external video links doesn't seem to open.

The external links issue is being tracked in a separate bug - that's actually DOM bug.

Comment 4

[Leo]

Hi jason,

Is there any update on this User agent issue

Comment 5

[Jason Smith [:jsmith]]

(In reply to Leo from comment #4)
> Hi jason,
> 
> Is there any update on this User agent issue

Nope, not yet. Our next compat meeting is Monday, so I'll be sure to raise it then.

Comment 8

[Andrew Overholt [:overholt]]

I was just showing this to blassey and lmandel (with a v1.1 build on a Keon) and noticed that if you press on the "full view size version" link, you get a pannable image full screen but can't get back to Facebook.  I had to kill the app to get back to my timeline.

Comment 9

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

(In reply to Andrew Overholt [:overholt] from comment #8)
> I was just showing this to blassey and lmandel (with a v1.1 build on a Keon)
> and noticed that if you press on the "full view size version" link, you get
> a pannable image full screen but can't get back to Facebook.  I had to kill
> the app to get back to my timeline.

Of course, that's a different bug. :) Do we have that one on file?

Comment 10

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

(In reply to Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] from comment #9)
> (In reply to Andrew Overholt [:overholt] from comment #8)
> > I was just showing this to blassey and lmandel (with a v1.1 build on a Keon)
> > and noticed that if you press on the "full view size version" link, you get
> > a pannable image full screen but can't get back to Facebook.  I had to kill
> > the app to get back to my timeline.
> 
> Of course, that's a different bug. :) Do we have that one on file?

Yes, that is tracked in bug 856567

Comment 11

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

This is due to WURFL, which returns a maxwidth of 90 pixels and triggers the FB server to send low-res pictures.

Comment 12

[Andrew Overholt [:overholt]]

(In reply to Harald Kirschner :digitarald from comment #11)
> This is due to WURFL, which returns a maxwidth of 90 pixels and triggers the
> FB server to send low-res pictures.

Lawrence, are you in contact with the WURFL people?

Comment 13

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

I have worked with the WURFL people previously to update their db. I can make another request.

Harald - Can you please ask Facebook for the complete list of WURFL properties that they use so that we can make a single request to fix the issues that Facebook is likely to encounter?

Comment 14

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

Harald - Ping. As there is lead time in getting changes picked up by WURFL I would like to provide them a list. Have you had a chance to speak with Facebook? Are there any other properties for which we should request changes?

Comment 15

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

I pinged beginning of this week and they are preparing a list for me. I will cc you on the discussion.

Comment 16

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

We have the WURFL list from FB and will work with FB and WURFL to get the values updated for the 1.0. and 1.1. UA.

Comment 17

[Youngjun Kim]

Leo keeps tracking this issue becauese our quality team is thinking that it is very important to end users. Please improve it.

Comment 18

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

We agree that the user experience is sub par. Lawrence might have an update from the communication with WURFL.

Comment 19

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

I have asked Hallvord to handle this. These are the steps to get to resolution:
1. Review list of WURFL properties in use at Facebook and create list of suggested changes.
2. Review change list with Facebook to ensure the values are appropriate for their use.
3. Recommend changes to WURFL.
...wait...
4. WURFL makes changes.
5. Inform Facebook that they can pick up the new version of the WURFL db.

Comment 20

[Karen Ward [:kward]]

Hi Hallvord, The resolution of this bug is critical for LG V1.1 device preloads.  Can you give an estimated completion date?  We need this as soon as possible.

Comment 21

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

I responded in bug 867357 comment 16 with a question about the timeline for this fix.

Comment 22

[Hallvord R. M. Steen [:hallvors]]

> 1. Review list of WURFL properties in use at Facebook and create list of
> suggested changes.

Done.

> 2. Review change list with Facebook to ensure the values are appropriate for
> their use.

E-mailed Facebook.

Comment 23

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

Reply from Facebook as to the required values in WURFL.

Photo resolution is determined by pixel density and screen scaling factors computed from the following capabilities:
* resolution_height
* resolution_width
* native_resolution_width
* native_resolution_height
* physical_screen_width
* physical_screen_height

And the file formats:
* png
* gif
* jpg

Setting their values to the same as the ones of Firefox for Android would give the same photo quality in Firefox OS as in Firefox for Android.

Comment 24

[Karen Ward [:kward]]

Regarding the date - LG wanted this fix before their IOT #1 that started on Aug 5.  It ends August 23.  How much longer is needed?

Comment 25

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

I have confirmed with WURFL that they will deploy the required update in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I don't have a more specific date.

Comment 26

[Panos Astithas (he/him) [:past] (please ni?)]

FWIW this has been fixed for a few days now (maybe weeks?).

Comment 27

[Jason Smith [:jsmith]]

(In reply to Panos Astithas [:past] from comment #26)
> FWIW this has been fixed for a few days now (maybe weeks?).

Jeni - Can you confirm this so we can close this out?

Comment 28

[Simon Callan, Telefonica]

Is this confirmed as fixed (on the LG device)?

Comment 29

[Leo]

Attachment: Comparison of image from gallery and news feed of facebook.PNG

Assuming this as a server side fix and dependent on any region, we tested with latest build on leo device, there doesn't seem to be any improvement with the quality of images in news feed.

Comment 30

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

I will update this ticket as soon as we have confirmation from FB that they pulled in the latest WURFL update and and pushed.

Comment 31

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

The WURFL team tells me that this fix should be in WURFL API 1.5.

Comment 32

[Simon Callan, Telefonica]

Thanks - do we have an ETA for this fix to go live (by WURFL & FB)?

Comment 33

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

ETA from WURFL is 2 weeks for the change. FB has been good about picking up changes within a matter of days.

Comment 34

[Jaime Vega]

Helix still poor quality

Comment 35

[:Harald Kirschner :digitarald]

Lawrence, should WURFL recognize the new Helix UA correctly?

Comment 36

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

(In reply to Harald Kirschner :digitarald from comment #35)
> Lawrence, should WURFL recognize the new Helix UA correctly?

AFAIK, we have not communicated any device specific UAs to WURFL. I don't have any information about whether the Helix UA will be correctly recognized by WURFL. 

Is there a reference list of device specific UAs?

Comment 37

[Karen Ward [:kward]]

Harald - should this also be fixed?  It was my understanding that this was only an issue on Helix device now.

Comment 38

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

WURFL has released v1.5 of their API. Facebook can now update to fix this issue.

Comment 40

[(not reading bugmail) Nick Desaulniers [:\n]]

I have a screenshot of a phone where the UA has been modified to:

Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; ALCATELOneTouch4012X; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1
from the expected:

Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1

Does WURFL properly handle device specific UA strings?  My guess is: no.

Comment 41

[(not reading bugmail) Nick Desaulniers [:\n]]

Attachment: Modified UA String

Comment 42

[Lawrence Mandel [:lmandel] (use needinfo)]

Mike - Can you answer Nick's question - Does WURFL properly handle device specific UA strings and, more specifically, a device specific UA string with the device id "ALCATELOneTouch4012X"?

Comment 43

[Karl Dubost💡 :karlcow]

(In reply to Nick Desaulniers [:\n] from comment #40)
> Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; ALCATELOneTouch4012X; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1
> Does WURFL properly handle device specific UA strings?  My guess is: no.

http://tools.scientiamobile.com/?user-agent-string=Mozilla%2F5.0+%28Mobile%3B+ALCATELOneTouch4012X%3B+rv%3A18.1%29+Gecko%2F18.1+Firefox%2F18.1
or http://bit.ly/16fe09S

> According to the latest and greatest WURFL (1.5), your device with User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; ALCATELOneTouch4012X; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1 identified as a Mozilla Firefox OS
> 
> Capabilities:
>
>    is_tablet: false
>    pointing_method: touchscreen
>    resolution_width: 320
>    resolution_height: 480
>
> This is just a partial list of capabilities. Licensees have access to over 500 capabilities.

Comment 44

[Juan Perez-Bedmar [:juanpbf]]

In line with previous comments, we are having this same picture resolution issue on Ikura. 

I believe that Ikura's UA --> Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile;ZTEOPEN; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1
is neither been properly handled.

What steps should we follow to fix this?

Comment 45

[Mike Taylor [:miketaylr]]

According to WURFL 1.5, "Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile;ZTEOPEN; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1" (is the missing space between ";" and "ZTEOPEN" intentional?) is correctly detected as a Firefox OS. You can verify from the link that Karl pasted in comment 43.

If Facebook has updated to 1.5, this device should be good to go.

Comment 46

[Juan Perez-Bedmar [:juanpbf]]

(In reply to Mike Taylor [:miketaylr] from comment #45)
> According to WURFL 1.5, "Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile;ZTEOPEN; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1
> Firefox/18.1" (is the missing space between ";" and "ZTEOPEN" intentional?)
sorry, it was a typo. There should be an space. 
> is correctly detected as a Firefox OS. You can verify from the link that
> Karl pasted in comment 43.
yes, I know. But even then, pictures are shown in low resolution.
> 
> If Facebook has updated to 1.5, this device should be good to go.
How can I get this info from my Facebook app?

Comment 47

[Jaime Vega]

For the Helix the UA is : Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; HUAWEIY300-F1; rv:18.1) Gecko/18.1 Firefox/18.1

Comment 48

[Mike Taylor [:miketaylr]]

(In reply to Juan Perez-Bedmar [:juanpbf] @Madrid from comment #46)
> > If Facebook has updated to 1.5, this device should be good to go.
> How can I get this info from my Facebook app?

I don't believe you can get this info directly, the WURFL instance that FB uses is part of their backend server infrastructure.

Comment 49

[Elisa Helton]

Updated app committed by FB for Oct 23 (WURFL 1.5)

Comment 50

[Karen Ward [:kward]]

Confirming this is a server side change. No change to device is needed.

Comment 51

[Jaime Vega]

I need confirmation from Spain, but from this side, it is fixed. Good job!!!

Comment 52

[Juan Perez-Bedmar [:juanpbf]]

(In reply to Karen Ward [:kward] from comment #50)
> Confirming this is a server side change. No change to device is needed.

Good news!
I have tested Ikura again, and now I see pictures in good resolution.

Thanks

Comment 53

[Karen Ward [:kward]]

WURFL v1.5 fix put in production by Facebook on Oct 23.  If further issues arise, bugs should be directed to OEM due to their UA string change.

Comment 54

[Elisa Helton]

Double checked on a ZTE device Build 20130828 OS v1.1 that Facebook pictures in newsfeed have high resolution. Keeping bug set as resolved.