Facebook for iOS update fixes bug that accessed your iPhone camera without your knowledge

Facebook has issued an update for its iOS app, which patches a bug whereby the app would access your iPhone's camera as you scrolled through your news feed.

On November 12, it was reported that a bug in Facebook's iOS app seemed to show that whilst Facebook was open, you could see your iPhone's camera feed open and running in the background. As most postulated, it was just a bug. A report from The Verge noted that Facebook had inadvertently introduced the issue in a previous update to the app on November 8.

Whilst the bug was not around for long (just four days), and whilst there was no reported evidence of any photos or videos being uploaded to the site, Facebook has still acted quickly and released an update to fix the problem.

Version 247.0 of the app states:

We update the app regularly so we can make it better for you. Get the latest version for all of the available Facebook features. This version includes several bug fixes and performance improvements. Thanks for using Facebook!

This is Facebook's standard update copy, and is used to describe nearly all of its updates. As The Verge notes, the new app does not seem to be inadvertently activating the camera, so if this and Facebook are to be believed, the problem has been fixed!

If you're still worried about the problem, you can of course revoke Facebook's access to your camera in your iOS privacy settings. Facebook only requires access to your photos in order to upload pictures and videos, not your camera.