Facebook Connect is missing from Apple’s new social network, iTunes Ping, after it was apparently working on Wednesday night. There seem to be mixed messages coming from Apple, according to interviews that All Things D’s Kara Swisher conducted with Apple honcho Steve Jobs and VP Phil Schiller.
Jobs said Facebook Connect wasn’t in Ping, and gave a dismissive “I guess we could do that.” Meanwhile, Schiller said you can absolutely find your friends on Ping using Facebook Connect. Both are wrong, though: Apple apparently DID do that, and now the feature is gone.
However, there are clues that Facebook Connect was meant to be in iTunes. If you’re following no one, you’ll see a message on your People page that says, “You are not following anyone. Connect with Facebook, search for people, invite friends, or follow recommended people to get started.” Facebook Connect is even mentioned in the Welcome to Ping email you get when you first sign up.
At this point, it’s a mystery whether Facebook Connect will be back, but I hope it will. Although Jobs says Facebook demanded “onerous terms” from Apple, using Facebook Connect is way faster than manually adding all your friends to Ping. Hey Steve, can we get a Twitter or Gmail connect, at least?