messenger

Facebook’s latest trick for Messenger and Instagram just started rolling out

November 13th, 2020

Chris Smith

Facebook just launched a new feature for Messenger and Instagram that allows people to chat with their friends via self-destructing messages. Vanish Mode is rolling out on Messenger in the US and other countries initially, with Instagram to follow. The feature copies Snapchat’s disappearing messages features and might help Facebook merge Messenger and Instagram down …

Tech

Facebook enables cross-app messaging on Instagram and Messenger

September 30th, 2020

Chris Smith

Facebook announced that it’s ready to merge Messenger chat with Instagram, allowing people to communicate seamlessly across platforms. The move is part of Facebook’s bigger plan to unify Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The Messenger-Instagram cross-platform messaging system will be available soon in a few unnamed countries, but users will have the ability to reject the …

Tech

Facebook starts ambitious plan to unify all of its instant messenger apps

August 17th, 2020

Chris Smith

Facebook has started merging Messenger with Instagram chat, which appears to be the first step towards the unified, end-to-end, instant chat service that Facebook has promised. The first changes concern Instagram’s user interface, as the app will soon support chats with Messenger. The cross-app chat functionality has not been implemented, so Instagram users can’t chat …

Tech

Facebook Messenger’s new security features should protect you from scammers

May 21st, 2020

Chris Smith

New Facebook Messenger security features will improve protections for minors as well as adults when it comes to unwanted chat requests. Facebook developed new safety tips powered by machine learning that will still work after the service gets its promised end-to-end encryption. The new safety features will offer users tips on how to handle suspicious …

Tech

It’s not just you: Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger are down

November 28th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Happy Thanksgiving! Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger all appear to be sleeping in on this most festive of holidays, as reports of a full-on outage are spreading across the internet. The trusty website Downdetector reveals that problems began shortly before 9 a.m. EST, and at the moment the outage only seems to be affecting Facebook’s …

Tech

Mark Zuckerberg finally told us when Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp messaging will merge

January 31st, 2019

Chris Smith

A report a few days ago revealed that Mark Zuckerberg directed teams working on the various Facebook chat apps to create a unified instant messaging app that would incorporate Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The resulting product would support end-to-end encryption and would allow any user of one of Facebook’s services to chat with any user …

Tech

Facebook’s unified messaging plan might finally convince you to leave Facebook

January 28th, 2019

Chris Smith

A bombshell report late last week revealed that Mark Zuckerberg and Co. are considering a massive overhaul of Facebook’s instant messaging apps which include two top-rated chat apps (Messenger and WhatsApp) and the chat version of Instagram. The plan, according to the report, consists of ensuring that a user belonging of any of the three …

Tech

Facebook’s new ‘Unsend’ feature may be in testing in the Messenger app

January 2nd, 2019

Chris Smith

A few weeks ago we learned that Facebook would soon launch an option to remove messages from a conversation that were sent by mistake. A Messenger update revealed the user would have ten minutes to unsend a message, which will remove it from the conversation for both parties. The feature may already be in testing …

Tech

Facebook will let you unsend that dumb thing you just sent on Messenger

November 7th, 2018

Chris Smith

One of Gmail’s best features is the ability to unsend emails. Made a mistake? No problem, you’ve got a few seconds to undo it and make sure to fix any mistakes before you finally fire it off. That’s a feature mobile chat apps could certainly use, given that texting plays an even more important part …

Tech

Of course Facebook was going to ruin Messenger with autoplay video ads

June 19th, 2018

Andy Meek

Facebook says it will start placing video ads inside the social media giant’s standalone Messaging service next week, an outgrowth of the company saying it’s run out of how many ad units it can squeeze into the main newsfeed and elsewhere in the app as it looks to wring value out of every monetizable hole …