Facebook has started notifying its users that the removal of chat from the Facebook app is drawing near. Instead, you will need to use the dedicated Facebook Messenger app on Android and iPhone if you want to chat away to your FB friends.
This is something that the company warned users of back in April, citing that the messenger app delivers messages faster. It also allows for free (read, over-the-web) calls to be made, so long as your recipient is also using the dedicated app.
Which, we guess, is going to be everyone pretty shortly.
The app is already very popular, coming in second for mobile Instant Messaging (IM) apps the world over behind WhatsApp. Facebook claims that its users send over 12 billion messages each day.
As is usual with any changes to Facebook this one, being one of the biggest, is bound to stir a lot of outrage. However, once people get used to using Messenger we think things will die down a little.
To be fair, the FB Messenger app is pretty good. It’s one of the few apps where you can use it over the top of whatever else you’re currently doing, without switching or closing anything. That in itself makes it worth at least giving a go, if you haven't already.
“In the next few days, we're continuing to notify more people that if they want to send and receive Facebook messages, they'll need to download the Messenger app. As we've said, our goal is to focus development efforts on making Messenger the best mobile messaging experience possible and avoid the confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences. Messenger is used by more than 200 million people every month, and we'll keep working to make it an even more engaging way to connect with people.”
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
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