How to login user from a mobile app (PhoneGap/Cordova, etc.)?

This documentation should help: http://drupal.org/node/932690

If the pages we've already linked to (i.e. http://drupal.org/node/933772) don't help you, try looking at fb_user.module and maybe fb_example.module for examples of what to do.

It sounds like you're using drupal as a service, not a web site. So I doubt all the normal facebook cookies and so on will be present. You might end up explicitly passing the access token to drupal, then using fb_graph(), taking care to always pass in an appropriate token.

Another problem needs to be in another thread. It's hard enough to maintain this issue queue as it is.

Unclear from the description above whether you're doing something special (user_check_password) or whether that is D7 default behavior. Please specify when you submit another issue.

I have the same problem. I found a solution hacking the function _fb_user_process_authorized_user in fb_user.module.
_fb_user_process_authorized_user calls (not directly) the function getUser() in the facebook php api. getUser doesn't seem to be able to recognize a facebook user if the call comes from a web service instead of a traditional web page load.
So, what I did is to copy _fb_user_process_authorized_user in my module and have my web service receive a facebook user id from my mobile app. The workflow for my mobile app is:

1. Connect to facebook on the mobile device
2. If connection is OK, call a web service on drupal, passing the facebook user id (fbu)
3. My web service does everything _fb_user_process_authorized_user does except getting the fbu from the facebook php api and calling user_external_login at the and instead of _fb_user_external_login

here is my web service function (fragment - based on 6.x-3.1):

  $fbu = [SOME VALUE COMING FROM WEB SERVICE CALL];
  $mapped = FALSE;

  if ($fbu &&
      (!variable_get(FB_USER_VAR_CHECK_SESSION, FALSE) || _fb_user_check_session($fbu))) {
    $fb_app = $GLOBALS['_fb_app'];
    // First check if map already exists.
    $account = fb_user_get_local_user($fbu, $fb_app);
    $config = _fb_user_get_config($fb_app);

    if (!$account) { 

      if ($GLOBALS['user']->uid > 0 &&
          $config['map_account'][FB_USER_OPTION_MAP_ALWAYS]) {
        // Create map for logged in user.
        $mapped = _fb_user_create_map();
       }
      if (!$mapped &&
          $config['map_account'][FB_USER_OPTION_MAP_EMAIL]) {
        // Create map if email matches.
        $mapped = _fb_user_create_map_by_email();
      }

      if (!$mapped &&
          $config['create_account'] == FB_USER_OPTION_CREATE_LOGIN) {
        // Create new local account with map.
        $mapped = _fb_user_create_local_account();
      }

      if ($mapped) {
        $account = fb_user_get_local_user($fbu, $fb_app);
      }
    }

    if ($account) {
      // Ensure the user has any roles associated with this app.
      $rid = $config['new_user_rid'];
      if ($account && $rid &&
          (!isset($account->roles[$rid]) || !$account->roles[$rid])) { 

        // there should be an API for this...
        db_query('INSERT INTO {users_roles} (uid, rid) VALUES (%d, %d)',
                 $account->uid, $rid);
        watchdog('fb_user', "Added role %role to existing user !username for application %app", array(
                   '!username' => theme('username', $account),
                   '%app' => $fb_app->label,
                   '%role' => $rid));
      }
 
      // Login as drupal user, if not already.
      user_external_login($account);
    }
  }

I don't like this approach because I would prefer to rely on well tested APIs rather than create a new version that will fail sooner or later and because maybe I expose my app/site to some security problem.
I would prefer to send, along my web service call, some facebook cookie to let _fb_user_process_authorized_user works as it should.
Any hint is appreciated.

Eugen80, Could you please post how you solved this issue. There are others of us that are trying to figure this out as well.

It seems to me that in this point the evolution of websites and mobile apps that this should be a standard practice by now.

1. Mobile app
2. Drupal Website that also delivers Mobile app content
3. Facebook logins to both the website and mobile app

Cordova has created the cordova facebook plugin to work with the facebook js sdk. I can login to facebook. But I have no way of logging that user into drupal and connecting the facebook user to the drupal user.

Services should be core to drupal. And the ability to do a facebook login should be a standard built into Services.

Thanks,