Messenger

A whole gaggle of once-popular emoji seem to be falling out of favor among texters and others, according to a new report from creative subscription service Superside. So now you can see if your faves made the list of the world’s most unpopular emoji.

“When conducting our study, it was shocking to see some once-popular emoji among the most endangered globally,” a Superside spokesperson told Cult of Mac. “As new emoji continue to emerge, it will be quite interesting to see if these rankings might change as the years go on and trends change.”

And what happens to deeply unpopular emoji, anyway? In a word, nothing.

Facebook Messenger? Meta Messenger? Just Messenger? We don’t know what it’s supposed to be called these days. But we do know it just added a bunch of useful, Slack-like shortcuts that help you get things done faster.

You can use them to silently deliver messages without notifications, to find the perfect GIF, to send payments and more — all without having to fiddle around inside menus. And Meta says even more are coming later this year.

Facebook announced Friday it will add the ability for free video calling for up to 50 people on its new video-calling service, Messenger Rooms. The change is taking direct aim at the Group FaceTime and the popular Zoom service that has taken the world by storm as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The expanded service will launch by days end in selected regions with a smaller number of users at launch, but will not be available for the maximum number for a few more weeks, the company said. 

Facebook launched an experimental new app today that aims to make it easier to message friends and family from your wrist while stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new app, called Kit, short for “Keep in touch”, only works on Apple Watch. Kit can be used to send voice messages, your location, emoji and more all with just a few quick taps.

Apple unexpectedly introduced iOS 12.3.1 this afternoon. It comes just a few weeks after the last update, and apparently only takes care of three bugs, two of which relate to spam in Messages.

Facebook could bring Messenger back to its main app as part of its strategy to merge all of its chat services into one.

Evidence of the change has been discovered in recent code. Facebook is yet to confirm the move, but it certainly looks like it is already making preparations.

WhatsApp Business for iOS has begun its worldwide rollout.

The new app, which lets businesses connect with their customers in an instant, made its debut on iOS last month — but only in a small number of countries. Now you can get your hands on it anywhere.

Your WhatsApp conversations can now be protected by Face ID or Touch ID on iPhone.

The latest update to the world’s most popular messaging app lets users take advantage of the iPhone’s biometric security features for an extra layer of protection. Here’s how it works.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed plans to merge WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger — but says it probably won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.

In a fourth-quarter earnings call this week, Zuckerberg also explained the reasons behind the plan, such as increased security with end-to-end encryption. Many questions still remain unanswered, however.

Facebook will merge its messaging apps, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, by 2020 under a new plan ordered by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Under the plan, the three apps will remain separate but integration would allow an Instagram user to directly chat with someone on Messenger.

We’ve all sent messages we regret, which is why many messaging platforms now give us the option to recall a text. Facebook Messenger is finally following suit, but it won’t give you much time to fix a potential disaster.

There are plenty of reasons why you should avoid using Facebook Messenger. Here’s one more: Facebook is putting autoplaying video ads in your private conversations.

Why aren’t you switching already?

WhatsApp’s latest update gives you the ability to play YouTube videos inside chats so that you don’t have to be redirected to another app. It also makes a welcome change to voice recording, negating the need to continually hold down a button.

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t be more intrusive, the company has confirmed that it keeps an eye on our Messenger conversations to make sure we’re being good.

Messages you send are scanned to ensure they abide by Facebook’s rules — and if they don’t, they won’t be delivered.

Facebook has confirmed it is investigating a frustrating Messenger bug that’s plaguing some users on iPhone. There is no workaround for the issue at this time, which means users have no choice but to live with it until it’s finally fixed.

Instagram users may soon get a second app dedicated solely to messaging other people on Instagram.

The new direct messaging app is called Direct and could be Instagram’s first move towards removing messaging from the main photo-sharing app.

Facebook is rolling out a brand new Messenger app designed for kids. It is aptly named Messenger Kids, and it packs the parental controls you need to ensure your little ones are safe while they stay connected with friends.

Microsoft is rolling out a complete top-to-bottom overhaul of Skype in an effort to do battle with the likes of iMessage and Snapchat.

Its revamped service combines familiar Skype features like instant messaging and international calling with third-party service integration, improved group chat, and photo sharing with the ability to add annotations and emoji stickers.

Facebook Messenger can be a real data hog if you’re a frequent user — especially if you send and receive a lot of GIFs, images, and videos. But that’s going to change thanks to a new Data Saver feature that’s currently being tested on Android.

Facebook Messenger is now even more awesome on iPhone 6s.

Thanks to the app’s latest update, you can now take advantage of useful 3D Touch gestures that let you Peek and Pop into all your ongoing conversations — and into all the media shared within them.

Facebook has begun testing end-to-end encryption with a new feature called Secret Conversations. Users will have the ability to chat confidentially without having to worry about being snooped on — but not everyone can enjoy super secure messaging just yet.

Facebook Messenger wants to make chatting with your closest friends even faster with a redesigned Home tab. Within it, you’ll find recent conversations, favorite contacts, friends who have birthdays coming up, and more.

Facebook is finally giving its Messenger emoji characters a much-needed overhaul.

Starting today, users will see all-new emoji designs with support for skin tone selection inside the official Messenger apps on all platforms.

Facebook plans to tighten security on its popular Messenger platform this summer, but it won’t be turned on for all users by default.

Messenger will add a new end-to-end encryption feature that prevents hackers and the government from being able to read your text messages. Facebook won’t be able to read your messages either though, and that will seriously hurt its ability to make bots great if you decide to opt-in to better security.

Facebook Messenger is more and more becoming my default chat tool as it’s the one app most of my buddies have, either on their laptop or mobile device, regardless of platform.

Thing is, Messenger filters a bunch of messages you’ve received, and I’m willing to bet you didn’t even know they were there.

If you want to find all those hidden Facebook messages, here’s how.