It used to be that messages you sent were pretty much permanent, but the trend we’re seeing in the past few years are messages that can be unsent or sent temporarily before they self-destruct. For those who use Instagram or Facebook Messenger, you’ll be pleased to learn that those features are now available for you.
We have been hearing a while about Facebook’s potential plans to merge some of its messaging services together. Back in August, Facebook started to merge Instagram’s DMs with Facebook Messenger, and now according to an announcement by the company, it looks like the merge has been officially completed.
One of the new features that Apple introduced to iOS 14 is the ability to change certain default apps, such as your browser and email client. However, that’s pretty much where they stopped, but interesting enough, Facebook is pushing Apple to make further changes where they are hoping that Apple could be convinced to allow default messaging apps to be changed as well.
Facebook owns multiple communications apps. This includes Messenger, WhatsApp, and we suppose to a certain extent, Instagram through the direct messages feature. All of them exist by themselves, but back in 2019, it was suggested that Facebook was trying to find a way to potentially unify them where users could send messages cross-platform.
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Last month, it was reported that Facebook was testing out a new feature for its Messenger app in which users could protect their messages through Face ID. This means that whenever users try to open the app, they can hide it behind Face ID so that only authorized users will be able to see the messages in the app.
Facebook currently owns several methods of communication. They have Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, all of which allow users to message each other. However, accordion to a report from WABetaInfo, it seems that Facebook could be considering cross-platform messaging where users on Messenger could potentially communicate with users on WhatsApp.
If you don’t like it when people use your phone and go through your messages, then here’s some potentially good news for you. Facebook appears to be testing out protecting its Messenger app with Face ID or Touch ID (depending on your device), meaning that you might be soon able to biometrically protect your messages from prying eyes.
During the early days of social media, it was relatively easy to trust messages you received on these platforms. This is because back then, not many people used them and as such, there is a good chance that who you were talking to could be an actual person. These days, it’s not uncommon to get random messages or friend requests from complete strangers.
Several weeks ago, Facebook announced Messenger Rooms. This was basically Facebook’s attempt at taking on the likes of Zoom. For those who are interested in checking it out, Facebook has since announced that Messenger Rooms will now be available to all users after rolling it out to a small set of users back in April.
Video conferencing apps have been around for a while now, but thanks to the coronavirus that has forced many people to work and study from home, suddenly these apps have become more popular than ever. In fact, apps like Zoom have suddenly gained a huge surge in popularity, but it looks like other companies will not be letting Zoom hog all the market share.
If you own a smartwatch, you know that it’s better for receiving messages than it is to send it. This is due to the small screen which makes it quite difficult and troublesome to type out messages, but this doesn’t mean that Facebook isn’t going to stop trying. The company has since debuted a new app designed for messaging on the Apple Watch.
With all the heat that Zoom is facing these days over its privacy and security practices, if you’re uncomfortable using the company’s video conferencing services, we totally get it. If you’re after an alternative, it seems that Facebook Messenger could be worth checking out (although Facebook is no stranger to privacy controversies).