Facebook to remove Messenger from main app to reduce 'friction'
Facebook on Wednesday started sending out notifications to users in Europe regarding the imminent removal of Messenger from the service's flagship iOS and Android apps, a move that will ultimately force users who chat to download the standalone version.
First reported by TechCrunch, the alerts were apparently sent out to European users of Facebook's mobile apps today, though widespread notifications are expected to start rolling out soon.
"To continue sending messages on mobile, people will need to install the Messenger app," a Facebook spokesperson told Re/code. "We've found that people get replies 20 percent faster on Messenger than on Facebook."
According to Facebook, the move is meant to streamline the main app by breaking out features into standalone apps. Currently, the flagship Facebook app has Messenger "buried" under a user's main feed. Forcing use of the standalone Messenger will also give Facebook additional presence on a user's home screen.
The feature deprecation may be more of a hassle, however, as Facebook users will have to exit the main app and open Messenger to chat and read posts on their timeline. Alternatively, multitasking between the two is an option, though this solution is still more cumbersome than the current system that requires only a swipe to the left to bring up in-app chat.
Changes are expected to roll out first in Europe before going worldwide within the next one to two weeks.
First reported by TechCrunch, the alerts were apparently sent out to European users of Facebook's mobile apps today, though widespread notifications are expected to start rolling out soon.
"To continue sending messages on mobile, people will need to install the Messenger app," a Facebook spokesperson told Re/code. "We've found that people get replies 20 percent faster on Messenger than on Facebook."
According to Facebook, the move is meant to streamline the main app by breaking out features into standalone apps. Currently, the flagship Facebook app has Messenger "buried" under a user's main feed. Forcing use of the standalone Messenger will also give Facebook additional presence on a user's home screen.
The feature deprecation may be more of a hassle, however, as Facebook users will have to exit the main app and open Messenger to chat and read posts on their timeline. Alternatively, multitasking between the two is an option, though this solution is still more cumbersome than the current system that requires only a swipe to the left to bring up in-app chat.
Changes are expected to roll out first in Europe before going worldwide within the next one to two weeks.
Comments
Could they also remove themselves from human civilization?
Could they also remove themselves from human civilization?
+1
They are forcing "public" on things that were not. The mobile app stopped letting me use "friends of friends". If I want to do that it has to be on the browser client via custom. Forcing people to use the messenger app is dumb. I only used the messages in the main app out of convince. I have a separate chat app already and will just use it.
So tired of facebook's crap.
Hope you did that before 2010, because there’s no account deletion since. Not without a death certificate, at any rate. And your data stays with them regardless.
This is of course how many months before the merge messenger with WhatsApp?
I appreciate that Apple hasn't tried to go into social yet (except for ping, which I believe was actually a failed play/ploy to get Facebook user integration). But I think that a lack of a reasonable, viable alternative to Facebook puts Apple in a good position to create a meaningful contribution to the social space, mainly: social + security + Apple ecosystem. I hope Apple is working in this.
If I click the messages icon in the FB app it automatically opens the Messenger app.
The Messenger app is a big improvement compared to what was previously in the FB app.
It looks like they have to separate this product, as they want users to be able to chat even though the are not friends on FB, and they can better add features that allows you to chat with people that are not even on FB (my guess is they will integrate whatsApp into this as it seems to be the cleanest app of the two).
The Messenger app has different sets of icons and pictures that you can download and use, that was never available in the FB app.
The last thing I want when replying to a Facebook message is to see a bunch of friend requests, notifications, page activity and other distractions.
The Messenger app made sense to me. You go straight to the message... and only the message. I thought that was the idea.
And then the regular Facebook app is for all the [I]other[/I] Facebook stuff.
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If I click the messages icon in the FB app it automatically opens the Messenger app.
The Messenger app is a big improvement compared to what was previously in the FB app.
It looks like they have to separate this product, as they want users to be able to chat even though the are not friends on FB, and they can better add features that allows you to chat with people that are not even on FB (my guess is they will integrate whatsApp into this as it seems to be the cleanest app of the two).
The Messenger app has different sets of icons and pictures that you can download and use, that was never available in the FB app. You can call people and what else can we expect to see…
It makes sense, it's an improvement that I don't have to refresh the news feed to sent a message to another person.