Facebook Messenger

Facebook is the quintessential social network, but you may not always feel like being social every time you log in to your Facebook account. Whether it's because you don't have the energy or the time to engage with friends, you do have the option to browse Facebook without anyone knowing you're online. The way to achieve this is by turning off your "Active Status," which can be done within...

Facebook Messenger claims to be a secure platform for private communications, but the truth is that regular conversations conducted through the app are not end-to-end encrypted, which puts your sensitive information at considerable risk. End-to-end encryption ensures that only you and the person you're communicating with can read or listen to what is sent, and nobody in between, not even...

After previously only existing as an "Easter Egg" setting, Facebook in April 2019 added a Dark Mode theme as an official display feature of its standalone Messenger app. Facebook says that Dark Mode is designed to provide less harsh brightness in situations where ambient lighting is lower while maintaining contrast and vibrancy. If you have an OLED iPhone, such as an iPhone X, iPhone XS,...

Facebook today launched a standalone Messenger app for macOS and Windows platforms, allowing users to video and text chat with friends and family from their desktop computer. Along with all of the expected features, Messenger on macOS supports Dark Mode. The Messenger app connects directly to your Facebook account, so you can chat with existing friends without needing an email or phone...

Facebook's Messenger app for iOS has been updated with a redesign that aims to simplify the app with a focus on stories and friends, while relegating chat bots and games. In a bid to make the Messenger app smaller and faster, the latest update gets rid of the Discover tab, which was home to chat bots, businesses and games. These features have been hidden rather than removed, and can still be ...

U.S., U.K., and Australian officials have contacted Facebook to request that it provides authorities with a way to access encrypted messages sent by users over the social network, it was revealed today. Facebook-owned WhatsApp already uses end-to-end encryption to ensure only senders and recipients can read messages, but Facebook intends to extend the same protocols to its Messenger and...

Facebook will launch a new desktop app for Messenger on both macOS and Windows later this year, according to a since-deleted blog post spotted by French blog iGeneration ahead of Facebook's annual F8 developer conference. A screenshot of the Windows version of the app reveals that it will look rather similar to both Skype and Apple's own Messages app on Mac. Facebook said Messenger Desktop...

Facebook will discontinue its peer-to-peer payments feature for Messenger users in the United Kingdom and France on June 15, the company announced on Tuesday (via TechCrunch). The social network sent out notices to users of the service in the two countries informing them of the decision, adding that they would continue to be able to make charitable donations through Facebook itself. A note...

Eight years after separating its Messenger service into a standalone app, and five years after removing messaging functionality completely from the central app, Facebook might be gearing up to reintegrate Messenger into the main Facebook app (via The Verge). The news comes from app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who found a rudimentary "Chats" section in the Facebook mobile app. Whereas before...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to integrate three disparate messaging services -- Facebook Messenger, Instagram messaging, and WhatsApp -- into one "underlying messaging infrastructure" (via The New York Times). Facebook Messenger These services will continue to operate as their own standalone apps, but the company's work will make them interoperable with one another. This means...

Facebook today announced that it's rolling out a redesigned, simplified version of the Messenger app on a global basis starting today. Messenger 4, as Facebook is calling it, will refocus on conversations, making it easier to navigate through the app. Instead of nine separate tabs, there will be three tabs, with conversations quickly accessible through the "Chats" tab. Quick access to the...

Facebook is contesting a demand from the U.S. government that it break the encryption of its popular Messenger app so that law enforcement can listen in to a suspect's conversations as part of an ongoing investigation into the MS-13 gang. The U.S. Department of Justice's demand is in relation to a case proceeding in a federal court in California that is currently under seal, so public files...

Facebook today announced it is expanding chat translation within Messenger to all users in the United States and Mexico. When you receive a message in a language that is different from your default language in Messenger, Facebook's artificial intelligence assistant M will automatically offer a suggestion to translate the message. When you tap on the suggestion, you will be asked to enable...

Yesterday during its F8 conference, Facebook announced that an update coming to Messenger would simplify the chat app and reduce the amount of visual clutter that had been added into the user interface over the last few years. The Next Web has shared images of this new update, showing off the cleaned up interface, a dark mode, and more. Images via The Next Web The updated Facebook Messenger...

Facebook today announced the rollout of a new feature in Messenger called "Admin Privileges." With this toggled on, the company said that it will give specific users in a group chat "more control" over who partakes in the chat, and should help boost the app's privacy. If you have admin privileges you'll be able to approve or decline new members before they join the chat, remove members already ...

In December 2016, Facebook Messenger rolled out the ability for users to create group video chats with up to six members participating, and today the company has further streamlined the feature. Before today's update, if users were already in a one-on-one video or audio call they had to hang up, start a new conversation, and choose every member to invite to the new group chat. Now, while in...

Many Facebook Messenger users have taken to social media today to point out a frustrating keyboard bug occurring within the iPhone app (via TechCrunch). According to the affected users, Messenger is "totally broken" and freezes after they type a few words in a chat window. Users have tried force closing the app, as well as deleting and reinstalling it, but nothing has yet fixed it. Facebook...

Facebook vice president of messaging products, David Marcus, posted an update on Messenger today, outlining the app's successes in 2017 and hinting at what the team has planned for 2018. In the post, Marcus mentioned that the Messenger team knows the app has become "too cluttered." Because of this, they have planned a big update for 2018, which will introduce a simplified and streamlined...

Facebook today is rolling out a preview for a new standalone app aimed at kids under the age of 13, which the company says was built to make it easier for kids to "safely video chat and message with family and friends." The "Messenger Kids" preview is available only on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad in the United States, letting young family members download the app, which can then be controlled by ...

Facebook is continuing its seemingly relentless trend of copying Snapchat with the testing of a new feature that plays on the latter's chat streak challenge, which encourages users to "keep your streak going" when messaging friends. Facebook Messenger streaks include an emoji status to indicate friends that a user is currently in a streak with – who they've messaged for at least two days in...

Facebook said on Monday that Messenger users in the U.K. will be able to send money to each other through the app as it rolls out its peer-to-peer payments feature in the next few weeks (via BBC). The Messenger payments service was originally launched in 2015, but hasn't been available to users outside the United States until now. The social network said it has been used in that time to make...

Following Instagram's debut of Halloween filters yesterday, Facebook today announced the launch of Halloween-themed camera effects, posts, and even a new interactive game within the camera on the app. The update will be rolling out starting today and leading up to Halloween next Tuesday, October 31. Included in the update are more than twelve different masks and frames themed around the...

Last year, PayPal launched within Facebook Messenger as a way for users to shop and complete payments directly through the messaging app. Today, the two companies are expanding the focus of this feature and opening up peer-to-peer payments for Facebook Messenger users who have linked their PayPal account to the app. With a rollout starting today, Facebook Messenger users will be able to tap on ...