Facebook has started bringing voice and video calling back to its main app for some users. The move comes after Facebook and Messenger were in 2014 split into two and calling features were made exclusive to the latter.
Facebook says it’s “just a test” for now.
There was a time when the Facebook Messenger app was an optional extra. You could message, call, and access other communication features inside the main Facebook app on iPhone and iPad. Then, Facebook changed all that.
It took those communication features and made them available only inside Messenger, so users were forced to have both apps installed to access all of Facebook’s features. It seems, however, that a backtrack may be incoming.
Facebook app adds voice and video calls for some users
Voice and video calling are returning to the main Facebook app for a small number of users. Facebook says the features are “just a test,” but it’s a clear sign that they are likely returning for all at some point.
The change is “meant to reduce the need to jump back and forth between Facebook’s main app and its Messenger service,” Facebook’s director of product management for Messenger, Connor Hayes, told Bloomberg.
The test comes after Facebook brought a limited version of Messenger’s inbox back to its main app last fall. That functionality is yet to roll out to everyone, but it’s another indication of Facebook’s plans.
More to come for Facebook
The social network is slowly working to integrate all of Facebook’s apps and services, and starting to think of Messenger “as a service rather than just a stand-alone app,” Bloomberg explains.
“You’re going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time,” Hayes said.
Facebook has already given users the ability to message between Instagram and Messenger, and there are plans to add the same cross-platform messaging functionality to WhatsApp — another service it owns.
