“Facebook is reportedly testing to integrate its standalone ‘Messenger’ chat into the main app again”
After removing the Messenger functionality from its main app back in 2014, Facebook might integrate its standalone Messenger chat application back into the main app. The feature, as discovered by a well know app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, is currently under testing and might soon let users use both the applications as a single app under one single roof. The Messenger icon in the Facebook app, instead of opening the app separately, will display a ‘Chats’ section within the main app itself.
This move comes as Facebook prepares to integrate its messaging services across Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Jane notes that the ‘Chats’ section in the Facebook app will have limited Messenger functionalities. While users can send and receive messages, they would still need to open the standalone application to use other features like make calls, send photos, etc. Despite Facebook’s integration plans, standalone applications will be available to users. The screenshots of the feature also show Facebook’s new white UI, which is in line with Messenger’s recent redesign. Since it is still in the testing phase, there are no details regarding the rollout yet at the moment.
Separately, Facebook also has plans to launch a dedicated news service in partnership with select publishers. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a recent post, said that the company is presently deciding the specifics of the new feature and may involve publishers that are paid by Facebook to publish content on their platform. He further claims that he is not looking at the news service for generating revenue.