Instagram’s direct messages are a useful way to have a quick conversation through the social network, but today they’re getting a major change. Facebook Messenger is taking over Instagram DMs.
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One big focus of Android 11 is making the mobile operating system more people-centric. Messaging is a big part of this and Google today detailed how Twitter and Facebook Messenger are working to implement new features like Bubbles in Android 11.
Last year, Facebook introduced “Messenger Lite” for low-powered Android devices in emerging markets where connectivity is slower. Given the feature creep on the main client, the Lite version is often prefered, with many sideloading it. Facebook has now decided to officially make the app available in the US and other Western markets.
GIFs are commonplace in our conversations today, and messaging apps are constantly taking advantage of them and making it easier to insert them into a conversation. Facebook Messenger added native support for GIF search last year, and now it’s adding further support for GIFs on Android by taking advantage of Gboard’s built-in search feature…
Facebook messenger’s newest feature is called Group Video Chat. With it, you can now start a video conference with up to 50 of your closest friends. As fun as it would be to try to communicate with 50 people over video, though, only six of the people in the call will be able to display their video feed…
Following a major update to Android Auto last week, there is now a growing ecosystem for the car dashboard OS. Facebook is the latest partner by adding Auto integration into the Messenger app with drivers being able to easily and safely message while on the road.
Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, but that means it powers more underpowered devices than any other. Especially in the developing world, there are huge numbers of people who prefer — and need — less-capable, lightweight, and not-data-hungry versions of the apps that many of us take for granted.
That’s why Facebook today launched Messenger Lite, a basic version of Facebook Messenger made for those with Android devices more than a few years old (or with less capable specs)…
Facebook has been trying to make its Messenger application the one app on your phone for all your communication needs. This includes having the ability to set it as your default SMS app, removing the need to even have a Facebook account, and adding end-to-end encryption to all chats. Today, Messenger is adding a new feature called Instant video so that users can make video calls to their friends and family.
Facebook Messenger is the latest app to adopt end-to-end encryption for its chats, ensuring that conversations cannot be accessed even by Facebook. It’s just in testing so far, but the company says that it will be made available more widely in the course of the summer.
We are starting to test the ability to create one-to-one secret conversations in Messenger that will be end-to-end encrypted and which can only be read on one device of the person you’re communicating with. That means the messages are intended just for you and the other person — not anyone else, including us.
While Apple uses end-to-end encryption as standard for both iMessages and FaceTime, and WhatsApp followed suit in April, Facebook is taking a slightly different approach …
Introduced in Android N, Direct Reply allows users to respond to messaging apps right from the notification shade without needing to first jump into an app. Following Google Messenger and Hangouts, Facebook is testing the convenient feature in a beta version of Messenger.
Facebook announced today that it is adding over 1,500 new emoji to Facebook Messenger. The company made the announcement on the Messenger Facebook page, explaining that the new emoji bring a lot more diversity to the service.
Facebook held its annual F8 developer’s conference today that laid out the foundation for what the company plans to accomplish as far out as the next ten years. Today’s keynote presentation focused more on what the next year at Facebook and its products would look like for customers. Putting a heavy emphasis on Messenger and Facebook Live, it’s fair to say that you’ll be seeing a lot of these changes coming to mobile very soon.
After many months of A/B testing, Facebook is finally releasing an update for Messenger featuring Material Design to all users today. The final version that is coming out to phones today features a blue top bar and a floating action button, along with other visual tweaks.
Facebook has been busy testing new versions of its Material-inspired Messenger in recent weeks. Three weeks ago, the Material Design refresh started showing up for a handful of users with an account-switching feature and new FAB (floating action button), while others last week reported a fresh new blue lick of paint.
More recently than that, it seems some Messenger users are seeing the inclusion of a new feature. Or rather, the return of an old, discontinued feature.
Facebook loves to A/B test new features and interfaces with a small and random subset of users before a full rollout. A few weeks ago the company began testing a Material Design refresh for Messenger. Some users are now seeing a new variant that sports a blue action and top bar.
Facebook is testing a minor Material Design-inspired refresh for its messaging app, Messenger. The addition of the floating action button (FAB) is the biggest and most notable change, but there are some other minor design tweaks and a new feature that allows multiple user sign-ins.
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
LinkedIn, the popular social network for connecting business people, has announced that its messaging experience is getting a serious design overhaul from today. Unlike the previous inbox, messages will no longer follow a traditional email format. Instead, it’s turned towards a messaging app design similar to Facebook Messenger.
LinkedIn has built everything from scratch, from the ground up with a cleaner, streamlined look with a brand new chat-style user interface. You can chat with contacts individually or send group messages, and conversations are organized around the people who are important to you. What’s more, you’ll be able to send documents, images, stickers, emojis and GIFs in your messages.
Starting today, we are rolling out a new messaging experience on LinkedIn that offers an easier and more lightweight way to have professional conversations with your connections. We know many of you have been asking for this ability and we’ve taken a thoughtful approach to reflect the evolving ways professionals are communicating with one another today, as well as, the different ways our members are interacting with each other across our international markets.
From today, the new messaging experience will by rolling out to English-speaking LinkedIn members across the globe on iOS, Android and on the web. If you have LinkedIn installed on your Android smartphone, check the Play Store for updates and you should find one waiting for you over the coming days or weeks.
Facebook Messenger is a quite well-designed messaging app available on both Android and iOS, and now you don’t even need to a Facebook account to use it.
Back in March, Facebook made much noise with its unveiling of Facebook Messenger Platform, a way through which developers can integrate their third-party apps into the company’s popular Messenger app, creating new uses and features for the messaging service. Now, the platform is seeing its first Android game in the form of Doodle Draw.
A couple Facebook announcements today for Android users: Those in the developing world get a new “Lite” version of Facebook that brings a scaled-back but much faster experience when using the app on slower networks. In addition, all Facebook Messenger users on Android are getting new and improved features for sharing their location.
Facebook notes that the new Lite app is “is less than 1MB so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook’s core experiences like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications and more.”
And here’s the company’s description of the new location sharing features rolling out to Messenger users today:
Today, we’re excited to start rolling it out in place of our previous location sharing feature. Now you can choose to explicitly send a map of your location or another particular place as a separate message… With this update, you have full control over when and how you share your location information. You only send a location when you tap on the location pin and then choose to send it as a separate message. You can also share a location—like a meeting spot—even if you’re not there.
Here’s a look at the new location sharing features on Android:
The new Facebook Lite app is already available on Google Play for users in Asia while users in parts of Latin America, Africa, and Europe will get access over the coming weeks.
Facebook Messenger for Android has been given an update, bringing the ability to send 15-second video clips through the app, as well as send even bigger thumbs-up graphics for when you just really, really like something that your friend said.
Notably, this update brings the app in line with much of what Snapchat offers. But also, doesn’t this new video feature kind of duplicate the true Snapchat competitor that Facebook is launching soon?
You can grab Facebook Messenger version 6.0 on the Play Store for free.
What’s New
Instant Video Sending: Shoot and play 15-second video messages from the camera right in the app.
Big Likes: Press and hold to send an even bigger thumbs up when you really, really like something.
Want to stay on the dangerously cutting edge of social software on Android? Boy, does Facebook have an offer for you.
Announced today, Facebook is opening its Messenger app to beta testers on Android and looking for feedback on its user experience. The program aims to cast a wider net on catching bugs before they ship to general public. While testers will likely have a bumpier experience than users with the general release version, there’s potential to test unreleased features that might never make the public edition.
Facebook launched a similar program for its main Android app last summer. Expand
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A brand new Facebook test build is making its way into the wild and with it comes a flatter redesign. The boys at Android Police have a brief look at the redesign and its pretty easy at first glance to recognize that a lot has changed.
Back in October, Facebook announced that it would be totally revamping its Messenger app for Android. At the time, the social network made the redesign available to just a few beta testers. Today, however, Messenger for Android has been updated in the Play Store to bring the new, beautified interface to more users.
In addition to the new interface, the app also has a few new features. For one, you can now easily see which friends are available for chatting and which are not. The menu system has also been redone and makes navigation a whole lot easier. Finally, you can also now initiate a chat with anyone via Messenger, even if they are not your Facebook friend. You simply have to have their phone number.
What about the people you text with who aren’t your Facebook friends? Now you just need a contact’s phone number to begin texting others using Messenger. To help people reach you, you’ll be asked to confirm your phone number.
The update is rolling out gradually to select users now, so head to the Play Store and look for yourself.
(early beta of the functionality, above)
Update: The app is now live on the App Store. A full list of new features is below.
Alongside the Facebook Messenger for iPad app and updated iPhone app with video chat that we revealed earlier this week, we have also been beta testing a new “read receipts” feature. Today, Facebook is apparently rolling out the new feature to its existing iOS Messenger app, which gives you the ability to see when someone received and read your message.
While the update is not live, TechCrunch confirmed with FaceBook’s Peter Deng that the update is coming to the current iOS Facebook Messenger client and Android’s counterpart. According to the report, the feature will appear as “Seen by username” under the message itself, but our build of the app used checkmarks—as seen in the image above.
As noted by TechCrunch, the update will include the name of the location when the message was sent, if the user has enabled location services. It also replaces the three-dot typing indicator with the name of the person typing.
The updated Facebook Messenger iOS app is available here.
