Facebook App: any way to run the app without SSL?

facebook ssl facebook-apps
user984621 picture user984621 · Sep 3, 2012 · Viewed 22.4k times · Source

I am working on my first app for Facebook and facing (probably) with the SSL problem. If I am testing the app, so it's working well. But then I wanted to test the app by my friend - so I assigned him the role "Tester", he accepted it and I sent him the link to the app.

If he opened the app, he got the error The website is not available - Error 501 (net::ERR_INSECURE_RESPONSE): Unknown error

I started google it and it looks that the cause is the missing SSL certificate on my hosting, where the app is stored.

BUT - how is possible, that the app is working me well without the SSL and to my friend doesn't? If the SSL is required for Facebook apps, why I didn't get the same error? (I set Secure Canvas URL: to https://example.com/fb-app-directory/, however I don't have at this domain and hosting any SSL certificate).

I never used before SSL. I bought the domain name on Namecheap and hosting on Hostgator. So now, I should buy a SSL certificate from the offer (http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates.aspx) of Namecheap, right?

Would be suitable for the Facebook app the cheapest one?

Answer

Pritam Kumar picture Pritam Kumar · Sep 3, 2012

Look, this SSL problem can only be solved by purchasing a valid SSL certificate or looking for a server which can host your app and is SSL certified such as:

  • phpfog.com - Provides you with some limited space and database service.
  • heroku.com - Does not provide any storage space for saving dynamically generated data. To have that service, you have to buy the Amazon buckets service which, again, is a costly affair.

If you don't want to invest any money, I would recommend that you go with phpfog - it is easy and its documentation is pretty good.

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