Remember the time when Facebook forced us to download Messenger to chat with friends and make calls? Now, the company wants to bring video and voice calling back to the main app.
According to a report fromBloomberg, starting this week, some users will be able to make voice and video calls directly from the app. While currently, this is just a test, the company said this feature will “reduce the need to jump back and forth between Facebook’s main app and its Messenger service.” Tables have turned.
In 2014, Facebook first started the push towards Messenger by discontinuingthe chat feature in the main app.Since then, the chat app has gained more than1.3 billion active monthly users.
With the rise of platforms such as TikTok, along with Instagram’s tremendous growth, time spent on the blue apphas reduced over the years.To lure people into spending more time, the company has experimented by includingmusic videos,audio products, and evenInstagram’s short video product Reelsin the main app.
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This test also points towards the company’smega vision of integrating all of its apps and services. Last year, it started mergingInstagram DMs and Facebook Messenger. Plus, it has been planning to bringWhatsApp into the integration play.The company might not stop till we can’t tell Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apart.
Story byIvan Mehta
Ivan covers Big Tech, India, policy, AI, security, platforms, and apps for TNW. That’s one heck of a mixed bag. He likes to say “Bleh.“Ivan covers Big Tech, India, policy, AI, security, platforms, and apps for TNW. That’s one heck of a mixed bag. He likes to say “Bleh.”
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