Facebook tightened security on its popular Messenger platform by adding end-to-end encryption for all users. This means Meta can not eavesdrop on conversations.
Reports that this feature was “coming soon” have been circulating since at least 2016.
Meta is reportedly killing its Messenger app for Apple Watch at the end of this month. The company is informing users about this impending change through a notification inside its apps.
Despite the axing of the Messenger app for Apple Watch, you’ll continue to receive notifications for new messages. But you cannot reply to them. For that, you’ll have to use the app on your iPhone.
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 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.
Some classic iOS games got upgraded for their Apple Arcade debuts this week, but that’s just the start of this week’s roundup. A new iOS app gives you the chance to win prizes for not driving like a jerk. And a new Mac app lets you effortlessly declutter your presentations.
Plus, a couple of heavy-hitter apps got updates — one kind of serious from a privacy perspective, and one almost completely frivolous. Are you ready for your app upgrades?
Emoji just got a sonic boost in Facebook Messenger. The social network’s chat app added Soundmojis on Thursday, giving users the option of sending audio snippets with some key emoji.
At launch, you can send catchphrases from TV shows, bits of hit songs, and garden-variety stock sounds. If your conversation demands the world’s tiniest violin emoji, your chat partner can actually hear it!
Beeper is a new all-in-one chat app that merges 15 different platforms into one. That sounds pretty interesting already, but what makes Beeper really exciting is its promise to put iMessage on Android and Windows.
The app, from Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky and his team, is “using some trickery” to make the impossible possible. But you’ll have to cough up a monthly subscription fee if you want to take advantage of it.
Facebook is rolling out new message-forwarding limits in an effort to cut down on the spread of misinformation.
A similar version of the feature, which ensures messages can be forwarded to only five people or groups at a time, is already available inside WhatsApp — another Facebook service.
Whether it’s socially distanced family quizzes, interminable work meetings or virtual conferences, video chat apps are big business in 2020.
Not wanting to be left out of the surge of popularity enjoyed by Zoom and Google Meets, Facebook is updating its video chat competitor Messenger Rooms app. The update makes it easier to find Rooms you’ve been invited to, to arrange future meetings, and to use custom backdrops of your choosing.
Facebook Messenger’s new App Lock feature lets you add an extra layer of security to the popular chat app. iPhone and iPad users can switch on Face ID or Touch ID so they never need to worry about anybody seeing their messages.
The previously rumored feature, which Facebook rolled out for iOS devices Wednesday, is easy to enable. Plus, you can tweak a setting to make sure App Lock works ideally for you. Here’s all you need to do to turn on Face ID or Touch ID for Facebook Messenger.
