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Facebook tells US, UK and Australia it won't weaken chat encryption
If officials were hoping that Facebook would stop end-to-end encryption in its messaging apps just because they sent a strongly-worded letter, they had another thing coming. Facebook has sent its own letter to US Attorney General Bill Barr, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and relevant Australian and UK ministers telling them that it wouldn't weaken encryption in apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Its defense revolves largely around telling, well, the truth: that it's not possible to create an encryption backdoor that only law enforcement and government can access.
Don’t underestimate the power of Facebook Pay
Facebook's built payment platforms before, but they didn't take off in the way that the company wanted or needed. The mistake would be to assume that Facebook Pay, the social network's new e-commerce system, will fizzle in the way its predecessor did. It won't, because Facebook Pay is not only about helping users split the bill but also securing Facebook's future.
Kik Messenger will keep running under a different owner
Kik Interactive may have chosen to focus on cryptocurrency, but its messaging app will apparently live on. In a new post on Kik's blog, MediaLab has revealed that it has acquired Kik Messenger from its creators and will continue developing the app. MediaLab owns other internet brands like Whisper, the anonymous secret-sharing social network.
Facebook and Messenger’s new camera filter, stickers focus on mental health
In honor of World Mental Health Day, Facebook has launched a couple of features that it hopes will bring awareness to the cause and help people who may need emotional support. For starters, it worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to create a camera filter for Facebook and Messenger Stories called "Let's Talk," which the company says is designed to be an invitation for friends or family to reach out for support if they're struggling. According to Facebook, based on a survey it conducted in the US, UK and Australia, 80 percent of people who participated said they could be more honest when using messaging apps, rather than speaking to someone in person -- hence why it thinks these features could be helpful.
DOJ asks Facebook to halt end-to-end encryption plans (updated)
The Department of Justice is set to ask Facebook to pause plans for end-to-end encryption across all of its messaging services. It will urge the company not to move forward "without ensuring that there is no reduction to user safety."
Apple might force Facebook to change how its apps handle voice calls
A change coming in iOS 13 could force Facebook to change Messenger and WhatsApp. As The Information reports, Apple will no longer allow these apps to run Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) in the background when it's not in use. At the moment, apps like Messenger and WhatsApp run VOIP continuously in order to connect calls faster, but doing so could also allow them to do other things, like collect user data. According to The Information, Facebook may have to redesign its messaging apps in order to comply.
Facebook will launch new Portal models this fall
Facebook has apparently been busy designing new variants of its Portal video chatting devices. According to the company's Vice President of AR/VR, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, Facebook plans to unveil new Portal models this fall. Bosworth has made the announcement on stage at the Code Conference in Phoenix, where he told the audience that the social network is releasing "new form factors" because "there's a whole new generation of hardware coming out." Facebook, he said, wants "to make sure that human connection, connection between two people, is a first-party experience" on a piece of hardware for the home.
Facebook's Avatars are a belated answer to Bitmoji
Facebook is hoping to shake up its emoji with something that will seem remarkably familiar. The company has introduced its long-expected Avatars, or personalized cartoon stickers that you can use in places like Messenger and the News Feed. They bear more than a passing resemblance to Snapchat's Bitmoji, and offer a similar amount of personalization. You can adjust basics like body types, skin color and hair, and throw in apparel that reflects your style. There's no image-based automatic creation, alas -- Facebook told TechCrunch that it wants to avoid the bias problems that can come with facial recognition.
BlackBerry Messenger shuts down for good today
Today, Emtek pulls the plug on BlackBerry Messenger. The company announced last month that it would shut down the consumer service, which has been steadily losing users and failing to attract new ones. As a consolation for diehard fans, BlackBerry opened BBM Enterprise, its enterprise-grade encrypted Messenger (BBMe), for personal use. That's available on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.
A closer look at the redesigned Facebook app
Out of all the announcements Facebook made at its F8 2019 developers conference, one of the most important was the redesign of its core smartphone app. The new application, which has been updated with what Facebook is calling the "FB5" version, is now cleaner, faster and puts Groups front and center. And, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "The app isn't even blue anymore." That's the first thing you'll notice when you check out the new app, which is rolling out to users starting today. If you use Messenger, the white-covered design of the FB5 Facebook app will feel quite familiar.
Facebook will let users chat across Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp
There were rumors that Facebook was going to make its messaging products interoperable, but now it appears they're about to be a reality. At F8, Messenger's head of consumer product Asha Sharma said that in the future, users will soon be able to send messages across Facebook's three different messaging platforms: Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. This interoperability is just one of many features of the new Messenger. All messages will also be end-to-end encrypted, which is part of Facebook's recent privacy-focused mantra. Sharma said that the inter-app messaging will work similar to how people make calls on phones today. You don't need to know if your friend is on Verizon or T-Mobile, you can just call them. It'll be the same on any of Facebook's messaging services -- just say you'll want to talk to your friend, and that message will get to him or her on whatever service they use. "We believe people should be able to talk to anyone anywhere," she said. It's unclear just yet when this will roll out to users. Zuckerberg said it could take quite some time, which might mean next year or later. Update 7:02pm ET: Changed expectation of roll out date.
Facebook Messenger is getting faster, lighter and more secure in 2019
Facebook Messenger has undergone a lot of changes in the past few months. With Messenger 4, for example, it did away with clutter by going from nine tabs to four, and simplified the interface so it was easier to send a photo and start a video call. It also introduced dark mode, threaded replies, and a ten-minute unsend window. At F8 2019, Facebook's annual developer conference, the company announced there would be even more changes coming to Messenger in 2019. New features include a more lightweight app, a dedicated area for close friends and family, a "watch party" feature, a desktop app, and end-to-end encryption.
Facebook will scrap Messenger payments in the UK and France
Facebook will discontinue peer-to-peer Messenger payments in France and the UK on June 15th, the company told Engadget. "After evaluating how we give people the best experiences in Messenger, we made the decision to focus our efforts on experiences that people find most useful," Facebook said, adding that active users will be notified ahead of the changes.
Facebook Messenger's dark mode goes live for everyone
After a month-long, emoji-based teaser, Facebook Messenger is the latest big-name app to fully hop on the dark mode bandwagon. As of today, you can darken your screen while using the iOS and Android app from your settings -- the update is rolling out worldwide.
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp hit by second outage within a month
Just as the US was waking up to a lovely Sunday, Facebook was sadly tackling yet another massive outage -- its second one within a month. According to downdetector.com, soon after 6AM ET today, users across the world started experiencing issues with Facebook and its various platforms, including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. At the time of writing -- well over two hours later -- the services were still down, leaving users unable to load fresh content or message each other, nor could we check the service status on Facebook's developer site. Unlike last time, the company had yet to comment on the situation via Twitter.
Facebook explores folding Messenger back into the main app
Facebook's Messenger might return to the main app, letting you access your social media feeds and messages in one spot, according to testing spotted by researcher Jane Manchun Wong. The Messenger app icon would remain, but instead of launching a standalone app, it would open Facebook and take you directly to a section called "Chats." That's roughly how it used to work before Facebook released Messenger as a standalone app in 2011 and removed it completely from the main app in 2014.
Facebook has a three-part plan for tackling 'problematic' content
Facebook has faced intense scrutiny over the past couple of years for how it handles issues like harassment, hate speech and the spread of misinformation. Though it's attempted to manage them, clearly the company is still struggling and has faced a lot of public backlash as a result. Today, Facebook is kicking off a massive campaign that aims to fix these issues on several different fronts -- not just on the main Facebook app, but also on Instagram and Messenger.
Facebook Messenger gets threaded replies
Facebook is making it a bit easier to keep track of who's talking to who in a busy group chat. It's rolling out a thread feature for Messenger that lets you reply to specific messages (including media and emoji). If you ask an important question, you won't have to scroll through chat to see if someone answered it. You only have to long-press on a message to start a response.
Facebook Messenger bug let other people see who you'd been talking to
In November, researchers discovered a Facebook bug that allowed websites to extract data from users' profiles thanks to a security flaw relating to cross-site frame leakage (CSFL). Today, the same team has revealed a now-patched vulnerability that would let websites expose who you've been chatting to in Facebook Messenger.
Messenger is the first Facebook app to get dark mode
Days after Facebook Messenger's dark mode was outed on Reddit, the social network has made the update official for iOS and Android. For now, you can only enable it by sending the crescent moon emoji in an existing chat thread or new message. It's a clever ploy by Facebook to get users actively chatting -- instead of simply activating the mode via settings -- at a time when it's facing increased competition from rivals like TikTok. Messenger is also the first of Facebook's social apps (which span its eponymous social network, Instagram and WhatsApp) to officially get a dark theme. "Messenger's dark mode provides lower brightness while maintaining contrast and vibrancy," Facebook writes in its blog post. "Dark mode cuts down the glare from your phone for use in low light situations, so you can use the Messenger features you love no matter when or where you are." It's promising to make the feature accessible via the settings tab in the near future. Facebook first announced Dark Mode in October as part of the Messenger 4 update, which it said would roll out in phases. The overhaul primarily focussed on decluttering the app by reducing the amount of tabs from nine to three, including the Chats tab for all your conversations, the People tab where you can see who's online and the Discover tab for connecting you with businesses. Last month, Messenger also introduced the option to unsend messages during a 10-minute window.
