Facebook Bringing Voice and Video Calling Back to Main App After Moving Them to Messenger
Facebook is re-adding voice and video calling features to its main Facebook app after moving the features to Messenger back in 2014, reports Bloomberg.
Users in some countries including the United States are now able to make voice or video calls directly from the Facebook app. As of now, Facebook is testing the feature, which is meant to cut down on the number of times that Facebook users need to swap over to the Messenger app.
Messenger and Facebook used to be a single app, but in 2014, Facebook split them into separate apps and removed Messenger functionality from Facebook. Customers were forced to download the Messenger app to send private messages to other Facebook users or to make phone calls using the Facebook platform.
Facebook has also been testing adding a limited version of the Messenger inbox to the main Facebook app, further expanding what can be done without having to switch to Messenger.
Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger said that Facebook is beginning to consider Messenger as a service rather than a standalone app. "You're going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time," Hayes told Bloomberg. He said that Messenger is the "connective tissue" for people to communicate regardless of which service they're using. Facebook believes that a unified messaging infrastructure will keep its users engaged in the Facebook ecosystem rather than using alternative services like iMessage.
Facebook combined messaging between Instagram and Messenger last year, a feature that the company also plans to bring to WhatsApp. Deep integrations could make it harder for the Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp apps to be split should Facebook lose the antitrust lawsuit it is facing. The United States FTC has accused Facebook of a social networking monopoly and has called for the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp to bolster competition.
Popular Stories
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence.
Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476
The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Anker today kicked off its big Black Friday sale, which is set to run through December 9. This sale includes notable discounts on portable chargers, USB-C hubs, cables, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
There are a few bonus offers during this event as ...
Apple has partnered with select merchants to offer Apple Card users three percent Daily Cash back on their purchases, and two new companies were added to the partner list today. When purchasing goods and services from Booking.com and ChargePoint, Apple Card users will now get more cash back.
Booking.com is a site for reserving flights, cars, cruises, and hotels, while ChargePoint sells...
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 29 through Monday, December 2 in many countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and others. During the event, customers can get an Apple gift card with the purchase of an eligible product.
In the U.S., for instance, Apple is including gift ...
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices.
With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...
