There's more to Facebook Messenger than just messages. Well, messages are obviously a big part, but there are also plenty of features you might not know about. Read on, your just watch the video below. These instructions are based on the iPhone Messenger app, but should be identical on Android.
React with any emoji
You're not just limited to reacting to a message with the six pre-fab emojis Messenger gives you access to, you can actually use any. The sky is the limit.
- Press and hold the message you want to react to
- Tap the + icon
- Scroll down until you find the emoji you want to use
You can customise your set of six by tapping the customise option in the top right hand corner. Tap on the emoji you want to replace to set it. The first emoji will always be how you'll react to a message if you simply double tap it.
Sharing your location
It might sound a little creepy, but Messenger lets you share your actual location with friends for a set amount of time. I guess it's helpful if you're driving to pick up a friend, and you want an easy way for them to know when to be at their door?
- Tap the + icon near the text entry field
- Tap the arrow icon
- Tap Start Sharing Live Location
Setting nicknames
Got too many Alexes in the group chat and struggling to keep track? Make them compete for your love and kick the losers. Alternatively, you can set nicknames that can make it easier to keep track. Shotgun keeping mine as Alex.
- Tap on the list of people or the name of your group chat (if you've set one) at the top of your chat
- Tap nicknames
- Tap on the person you want to give a nickname to
- Enter the nickname and choose save
Nicknames are also a great way to roast your friends.
Give your group chat a name
You can also give your group chat its very own name, like "Hornsby on Main" for you and all your mates in Hornsby. Just be careful not to humanise it too much, or it might become sentient and take on a life of its own.
- Tap on the list of people at the top of your group chat
- Tap edit in the top right-hand corner
- Tap change chat name
- Enter a name and choose save
Give your group chat a photo
In addition to a name, give your group chat a photo of its own. One that highlights its striking personality. It will make it easier to find in the app, and I mean, who actually wants to look at their friends' faces?
- Tap on the list of people at the top of your group chat
- Tap edit in the top right-hand corner
- Tap change chat photo
- Pick a photo from your camera roll
Change the emoji in your chat
Sick of accidentally hitting the thumbs up button when trying to reply to a message? At the very least, you can make your unintentional responses more original by picking a custom emoji. We'd recommend ?? for maximum awkwardness.
- Tap the name of the person you're messaging at the top of the chat
- Tap emoji
- Choose the emoji you want to set the for the chat
This changes the emoji for everyone in the conversation, and also works in group chats.
Create a poll
If you need to get an answer from mates but they aren't good with words, try a good old fashioned poll.
- Tap the + icon near the text entry field
- Tap the icon that looks like three bars
- Fill out your poll question and then add your desired options
- Tap create poll
Check messages from people who aren’t your friends
Did you know that you can get messages from people who you aren't friends with on Facebook? Most of the time these are just a weird mix of spam and strangers asking if you're up, but just in case you want to check, here's how you do so.
- Tap your profile picture in the top left-hand corner
- Tap message requests
Here you'll see two tabs: messages from people you may know, and spam. Messages from people you may know are more likely to be legitimate messages. If you open it, the person in question won't get a read receipt until you reply.
Send encrypted or self-destructing messages
After a little extra privacy? Messenger has an optional secret chat feature that will encrypt your messages. This makes them theoretically impossible to be intercepted, and you can even set messages to self-destruct.
- Tap the pen and paper icon in the top right-hand corner
- Tap secret
- Tap who you'd like to start a secret chat with
In the text field, you can tap the stopwatch icon to set a timer to make your messages self-destruct after being seen. You can pick from anywhere between five seconds and one day.
Secret conversations are only visible on mobile devices - you won't be able to access them in your web browser. If you sign into a new device, you won't see messages from previous secret conversations.
Find a specific message
Looking for that one specific message that will prove a friend wrong? Messenger now makes it easy to search a specific conversation.
- Tap the name of the person you're messaging at the top of the chat
- Tap search in conversation
- Enter the phrase you want to search
- Hit search on the keyboard
Start a video chatroom
If you want to talk to your friends with your voice, rather than words, Messenger now lets you create rooms, which are essentially video chat spaces that anyone can join provided you've sent them a link. It's like Zoom, but with bonus Zuckerberg.
- Tap create room at the start of the row with all your friends faces
- Review the settings and tap create room
You'll then be given a link that you can give to people to get them to join your video chat. If you're not actively in the room when someone joins, you can get a notification that will alert you.
Alex Choros
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