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Facebook Messenger public chats arrive in two countries
Facebook's plan to revive its public group chat feature just became official. The social network tells the Courier Mail that it's rolling out a test version of Messenger Rooms on Android devices in Australia and Canada. As leaked code suggested, this is similar to but not quite like the Rooms app of old. All you have to do is create (or search for) a room around a given topic -- after that, anyone can join. If you're worried that you'll get an influx of trolls, you can require approval for new participants.
It sounds like Facebook Messenger will soon have more games
Facebook's gaming aspirations are deeper than its Gameroom app and quick rounds of basketball, soccer (football to the rest of the world) and chess in Messenger. Zuckerberg and Co. are shopping a development kit to, well, third-party developers to bring more distractions to Facebook Messenger. The "Instant Games" toolset will launch later this month, according to a report from The Information.
Facebook's Messenger app for Windows 10 now does calls
Facebook has quietly upgraded its Messenger app for Windows 10 with the ability to make voice and video calls, VentureBeat has discovered. No more leaving the app to ring up a friend through a browser. If that new-but-familiar phone or camera icon that you're probably used to seeing on iOS and Android has that green bubble up, your friend's online -- just tap either to start a call.
You can shop many stores entirely in Facebook Messenger
You've had the option of chatting with stores in Facebook Messenger for a while. Wouldn't it be nice if you could complete the entire sale without leaving chat? Shopify thinks it can help on that front: it's trotting out a feature that lets you browse and buy from stores using its platform while remaining strictly in Messenger. You don't have to visit a website just to pick an item or check out. You'll likely have to start the conversation from a company's Facebook page, but it's entirely possible that you could stick to chat from then onward.
Facebook Messenger now lets you toggle end-to-end encryption
With the flick of a switch back in April, the popular international messaging service WhatsApp turned on end-to-end encryption for every conversation in its system, dramatically boosting security for its 1 billion-person userbase. At long last, parent company Facebook has finally rolled out the same protections for users of its standard Messenger service. Today, users can toggle the "Secret Conversations" feature on in settings to enable end-to-end encryption, ensuring that nobody can pry into chat content but the participants.
Facebook tests feature similar to Snapchat Stories for Messenger
Facebook has been keen on borrowing features from Snapchat as of late and it's testing yet another one in Poland. The so-called "Messenger Day" tool allows Facebook Messenger users to share a collection of photos and videos with friends that will disappear in 24 hours. And yes, they can be decorated with text, scribbles, stickers and more just like you can do with Snapchat Stories. If you'll recall, Facebook reportedly tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion before getting turned down in 2013.
Ask, and Siri will make Skype calls for you
When Skype updates on desktop and gives the "improving your experience" message it's usually pretty easy to dismiss that as a bald-faced lie. But the latest iOS update actually sounds really useful. The VoIP service will now tap into Siri for making calls, pull contact information from the app into your contact list and, like Facebook Messenger before it, make incoming calls look like regular ones. It all sounds genuinely useful. As always, if the update hasn't hit your iOS 10 device yet, that's what the source link below is for.
Facebook Messenger calls look like regular calls on iOS 10
It won't be long before mobile networks become just another dumb pipe through which services are handed down from internet companies. Don't believe us? Then receive a call via the updated Facebook Messenger on iOS 10 and notice that they behave exactly the same as one made over the cellular network. The only difference between the two is that the VoIP call will be labeled as such in tiny text below the caller's name.
Facebook Messenger has an unreleased public chat feature
Facebook's lovable but unfortunately short-lived standalone Rooms app might see the light of day again -- in some form at least. According to TechCrunch, Facebook Messenger has an unreleased feature, also called "Rooms," that allow users to create public, sharable group chats
Facebook Messenger chatbots now support payments
The latest version of Facebook Messenger adds a new feature to the 30,000 or so chatbots that currently inhabit its platform. Starting today with version 1.2, those Messenger bots can now accept payments directly in the chat without sending users to an external website.
Facebook's sticker search has a queasy political reaction
I don't usually search out particular stickers to express myself on Facebook Messenger (I'm a 💯 or 🔥 emoji kind of guy) but recently people who do, have noticed some strange results. VentureBeat points out a tweet by Serena Ehrlich showing the vomit sticker in response to searches for liberals or feminism. The company responded saying something in its search algorithm caused the response and that it should not continue to appear after today.
Italian earthquake victims asked to disable WiFi passwords
Early Wednesday a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck central Italy, killing at least 120 people and trapping countless others under debris. To help ease communications for search and recovery, multiple disaster relief institutions are urging locals to temporarily remove their WiFi passwords.
You can now message President Obama on Facebook
President Obama is no stranger to social media, and now the leader of the free world is making it even easier to reach him on the world's largest social network. In a Facebook post today, the White House announced you can now send them a note via Messenger, exactly as you might send a message to friend.
BuzzFeed and Washington Post turn to robots for RNC coverage
Both the Washington Post and Buzzfeed have sent robots to cover the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Call it forward thinking, call it a gimmick, inventive, desperate... doesn't matter. But it's happening, and both outlets couldn't be prouder of their efforts to modify their news gathering process and bring additional interactivity to their reporting.
Facebook Messenger offers 3D Touch previews on your iPhone 6s
Add one more to the list of Facebook apps belatedly making use of recent iPhone features. Facebook has introduced 3D Touch support to Messenger on iOS, making your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus that much more useful when you're chatting up a storm. The update adds pressure-sensitive previews to seemingly everything -- you can peek at chats, contacts, locations, media, web links and even stickers. If you want to find out whether or not that conversation or photo is worth viewing, you'll want to get the new version right away.
Facebook Messenger's SMS push might break Android app rules (updated)
Did you think Facebook was a little too eager to have you using Messenger for SMS on your Android phone? You're not alone. Concerns are mounting that Facebook's SMS prompt might violate Google Play's policies prohibiting deceptive device settings changes. You see, the prompt offering to switch SMS to Messenger offers only a big "OK" button and a tiny "settings" button -- there's no obvious way to decline the change. You can, of course, but it's buried.
Microsoft's new acquisition can enhance Cortana's chat bots
Looks like Microsoft has been on a shopping spree. Hot on the heels of its massive LinkedIn purchase, the company announced that it's acquired three-year-old messaging-app maker Wand Labs. In a statement, Microsoft said that the acquisition would "accelerate [its] vision and strategy for Conversation as a Platform." Unveiled at the company's Build 2016 conference in March, Conversation embeds AI bots into Cortana to let users access third-party services within a chat.
Facebook shoves mobile web users toward the Messenger app
Remember when Facebook divorced instant messages from the main app and forced folks to download Messenger if they wanted a direct way to send quick missives while on the go? Well, the social network is doing something similar once again. Reports are floating about that people accessing their messages from the mobile web either isn't possible or that there are a few annoying obstacles in place.
Facebook Messenger launches its first airline bot
Facebook Messenger has a new bot, and this one can deliver all your flight info to one thread. The Messenger team has announced that its first airline partner's, the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines', bot is up and running in some locations and will be more widely available in the coming days. You have to choose to receive info via Messenger when you book tickets through the airline's website to be able to take advantage of its new feature. Once you do, the bot can send you your itinerary, boarding pass, check-in confirmation and even delay notifications through the app. It also gives you the choice to talk to a human staff member in case you have questions way above the bot's pay grade.
Behind Facebook Messenger's plan to be an app platform
A year ago, Facebook announced at its F8 developer conference that Messenger would evolve into more than a simple chat app. For one thing, you'd be able to chat with businesses and stores to, say, get an update on an order or make reservations at a restaurant. But the big reveal was that Facebook was turning Messenger into a platform for other apps. The initial integration was with GIF keyboards and games, but fast-forward a year later and you can see the idea starting to take shape. You can now request an Uber or a Lyft right within Messenger or share a song with your chat buddy via Spotify. Soon you might even be able to book a flight or pay for store purchases -- all without leaving Messenger.
