While Facebook’s Messenger app is probably one of your most used (well, if you’re into the whole messaging your family and friends thing), we can all agree it’s not the easiest to use. Aside from the fact that there are a gazillion tabs (okay just nine) upon just opening the app, things can sometimes get too confusing when all you want is just to send a message to someone. Well it looks like they’ve been listening to users as the latest update, Messenger 4, is a much simpler and more streamlined version of the app.
It’s not that Facebook removed a lot of the features of the app. They conducted a study (and people have probably been suggesting this to them too) and found out that 71% prefer just a simple app when it comes to messaging. So what they’re calling Messenger 4 is an exercise in this simplicity that will hopefully lead to the “closeness and authenticity” that people are looking for when they message someone.
Now instead of the 9, we only get 3 major tabs that you’ll see when you open the app: Chats, People, and Discover. Chats is of course where all your conversations, whether one-on-one or group, can be found. This is where you’ll find the Messenger camera as well (top right) next to the compose button. You’ll still be able to enjoy all the camera stuff like masks, filters, emojis, etc.
The People tab is where you’ll find all your contacts, obviously. You can see who are currently active and you can also watch their Stories from this tab. Lastly, you get the Discover tab where you can connect with businesses, play games, read the news, etc. Messenger 4 also now lets you use color gradients, in case you need more color in your conversations as you scroll up and down.
All the other features that you probably like (or don’t) are still there like polls, sending payments, sharing live location, etc, will still be there. And because Facebook knows how people are about major changes, they will be rolling out Messenger 4 gradually.
SOURCE: Facebook
