This week’s App of the Week isn’t exactly a new app. In fact, it has been around since August 2011. Arguably however, it has never been more relevant than it is right now. The focus of this week’s app review is Facebook’s instant messaging app, Messenger.
Initially launched nearly three and a half years ago as a standalone offshoot of the main Facebook app, Messenger allowed users to chat without having to go through Facebook. By December 2012, in a move that helped it compete with established and emerging messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Viber, Line and WeChat, Messenger users no longer even needed a Facebook account to sign up and chat via the app. Flash forward again, this time to April 2014, two days ago to be precise, and news starts to circulate that Facebook plan to remove the built-in chat feature from their main app, forcing users to download Messenger.
Obviously, as Facebook remove the chat feature, more and more users will turn to Messenger to chat with their friends, and over the coming months I expect it to receive a lot more attention. So what better time for a quick review?
We need to consider what the new app brings to the table since it will soon be tasked with completely replacing the old method of Facebook chat.
Messenger does boast a few additional features which weren’t available in its previous form, and which are not currently available from some other similar IM apps. For example, with Messenger, users have the ability to call each other via the app – an excellent addition which brings an entirely new aspect to communicating through Facebook. Whatsapp doesn’t even provide users with this feature yet.
Other new features include the dedicated group chat tab which allows for easier group chatting. Android users like myself, also benefit from the added Chat Heads feature which sees your friends faces pop up on your screen whenever you receive a message. Overall, it feels quicker and easier to use and, in general, it makes chatting much more efficient and inviting than using the Facebook app’s built in chat feature.
So it’s good that they are eliminating the chat feature from the main app, right? Not necessarily. The need to install and use a separate app when seeking to chat with Facebook friends could be seen by certain users as an unnecessary annoyance. With two apps now essentially doing a job previously done by one, problems associated with space or with transitioning between the two could become a nuisance, especially among users who are conscious of keeping their app numbers to a minimum. An understandable argument. Personally however, I found navigating between the two apps seamless, especially since clicking the chat button on the Facebook app would immediately redirect me to Messenger, and since, once I was done chatting, I could return to exactly where I was when I left. If anything, I found it more efficient than the previous system.
Overall, I see the standalone chat app as an improvement on the in-app chat feature, and while it certainly shows the potential to hold its own in the ever competitive instant messaging app market, the real test will come when Facebook decide to put the final nail in built-in-chat’s proverbial coffin and users are forced to find somewhere new to talk to their Facebook friends. Will they migrate to Messenger or will they be stolen away by the next big instant messaging app? Only time will tell.
App Rating: 8/10
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