Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger (commonly known as Messenger)[14] is an American messaging app and platform developed by Facebook, Inc. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the company revamped its messaging service in 2010, and subsequently released standalone iOS and Android apps in August 2011 and standalone Facebook Portal hardware for Messenger-based calling in Q4 2018. Later on, Facebook has launched a dedicated website interface (Messenger.com), and separated the messaging functionality from the main Facebook app, allowing users to use the web interface or download one of the standalone apps. In April 2020, Facebook officially released Messenger for Desktop, which is supported on Windows 10 and macOS and distributed on Microsoft Store and App Store respectively.
Developer(s) | Facebook, Inc. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial release | August 9, 2011 | ||||||||
Stable release(s) [±] | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Preview release(s) [±] | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Operating system | Web, Android, iOS, Windows 10, macOS | ||||||||
Size | 30.5 MB (Android)[8] 86.9 MB (iOS)[9] 117.8 MB (Windows 10)[10] 115.3 MB (macOS)[11] | ||||||||
Available in | 111[12] languages | ||||||||
List of languages Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Cebuano, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Dutch (België), English (UK), English (US), English (upside down), Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), Frisian, Fula, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Guarani, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Japanese (Kansai), Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Kyrgyz, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian (bokmal), Norwegian (nynorsk), Oriya, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Sardinian, Serbian, Shona, Silesian, Simplified Chinese (China), Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorani Kurdish, Spanish, Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Syriac, Tajik, Tamazight, Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Thai, Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong), Traditional Chinese (Taiwan), Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh and Zaza | |||||||||
Type | Instant messaging, VoIP | ||||||||
License | Freeware, proprietary | ||||||||
Alexa rank | |||||||||
Website | Messenger.com fb.com/messages |
Users can send messages and exchange photos, videos, stickers, audio, and files, as well as react to other users' messages and interact with bots. The service also supports voice and video calling. The standalone apps support using multiple accounts, conversations with optional end-to-end encryption, and playing games.
History
Following tests of a new instant messaging platform on Facebook in March 2008,[15][16] the feature, then-titled "Facebook Chat", was gradually released to users in April 2008.[17][18] Facebook revamped its messaging platform in November 2010,[19] and subsequently acquired group messaging service Beluga in March 2011,[20] which the company used to launch its standalone iOS and Android mobile apps on August 9, 2011.[21][22] Facebook later launched a BlackBerry version in October 2011.[23][24] An app for Windows Phone, though lacking features including voice messaging and chat heads, was released in March 2014.[25][26] In April 2014, Facebook announced that the messaging feature would be removed from the main Facebook app and users will be required to download the separate Messenger app.[27][28] An iPad-optimized version of the iOS app was released in July 2014.[29][30] In April 2015, Facebook launched a website interface for Messenger.[31][32] A Tizen app was released on July 13, 2015.[33] Facebook launched Messenger for Windows 10 in April 2016.[34] In October 2016, Facebook released Facebook Messenger Lite, a stripped-down version of Messenger with a reduced feature set. The app is aimed primarily at old Android phones and regions where high-speed Internet is not widely available. In April 2017, Facebook Messenger Lite was expanded to 132 more countries.[35][36] In May 2017, Facebook revamped the design for Messenger on Android and iOS, bringing a new home screen with tabs and categorization of content and interactive media, red dots indicating new activity, and relocated sections.[37][38]
Facebook announced a Messenger program for Windows 7 in a limited beta test in November 2011.[39][40] The following month, Israeli blog TechIT leaked a download link for the program, with Facebook subsequently confirming and officially releasing the program.[41][42] The program was eventually discontinued in March 2014.[43][44] A Firefox web browser add-on was released in December 2012,[45] but was also discontinued in March 2014.[46]
In December 2017, Facebook announced Messenger Kids, a new app aimed for persons under 13 years of age. The app comes with some differences compared to the standard version. In 2019, Facebook Messenger announced to be the 2nd most downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2011 to 2019.[47] In December 2019, Facebook Messenger dropped support for users to sign in using only a mobile number, meaning that users must sign in to a Facebook account in order to use the service. [48]
In March 2020, Facebook started to ship its dedicated Messenger for macOS app through the Mac App Store. The app is currently live in regions include France, Australia, Mexico and Poland. [49]
In April 2020, Facebook began rolling out a new feature called Messenger Rooms, a video chat feature that allows users to chat with up to 50 people at a time. The feature rivals Zoom, an application that gained a lot of popularity amongst the COVID-19 pandemic.[50] Privacy concerns arose since the feature uses the same data collection policies as mainstream Facebook.[50]
In July 2020, Facebook added a new feature in Facebook Messenger that lets iOS users to use Face ID or Touch ID to lock their chats. The feature is called App Lock and is a part of several changes in Messenger regarding privacy and security.[51]
Features
The following is a table of features available in Facebook Messenger, as well as their geographical coverage and what devices they are available on:
Feature | Added | Description | Platforms | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up without a Facebook account | December 2012 | Android users can sign up to the app without a Facebook account, requiring only a name and phone number.[52][53] | Mobile | Global |
Direct messaging | October 2013 | Users can send messages to other users without the requirement of being friends, as long as the user has the phone number of the other user in their contact list.[54][55] | All | Global |
Chat Heads | April 2013 | Displays a round icon with a contact's profile photo, appearing on the screen regardless of which app is open.[56][57] | Mobile | Global |
Money transfer | March 2015 | A feature for U.S. users to send money to friends.[58][59] In April 2017, the feature was expanded to support group payments.[60][61] | Mobile | U.S. |
Calls | January 2013 | In January 2013, Facebook added voice calling to Facebook Messenger users in Canada,[62][63] later expanding the feature to users in the United States a few days later.[64][65] In April 2015, Facebook introduced video calling in select countries.[66][67] In April 2016, group voice calling was introduced, with a maximum number of 50 call participants.[68][69] The following December, Facebook enabled group video calling for up to 50 people.[70][71] In June 2017, Facebook updated video chats to give users the ability to add animated versions of Facebook's reactions on top of their face, such as tears for a crying face and an exploding halo of hearts around the head when sending heart emoji. Additionally, users are able to capture screenshots, and live filters can change the color or lighting in the feed.[72][73] | All | Global |
Location sharing | June 2015 | Users can tap on a "Location" button and are then shown a map with the ability to pinpoint any location, even if the user themselves is not present at the place.[74][75][76] In March 2017, it introduced live location sharing, letting users temporarily share their location with a friend or group of friends for one hour at a time.[77][78][79] | Mobile | Global |
Business interaction | At the Facebook F8 conference on March 25, 2015, Facebook announced that Messenger would start letting users interact with businesses, including track purchases and receive notifications, and have personal conversations with company customer service representatives.[80][81][82] | |||
Third-party app integration | Users are able to open compatible third-party apps inside Messenger, such as a movie ticketing service or GIF generators, and then share those details with the other chat participants.[80] | Mobile | Global | |
Transportation requests | December 2015 | Messenger integrated with Uber to let U.S. users request a car directly from the app.[83][84][85] Support for Lyft was added in March 2016.[86][87] Support for UberPOOL was introduced in July 2016.[88][89] | Mobile | U.S. |
SMS support | 2012 | Facebook implemented support for SMS texting within the Messenger Android app.[90][91] However, the feature was dropped in 2013 due to "extensive reworking" of the app, with a Facebook product manager stating that the SMS feature "just didn't take off".[55] SMS was once again introduced in testing in February 2016,[92][93] before the official global rollout started in June.[94] | Android | Global |
Multiple accounts | February 2016 | Facebook added support for multiple accounts in the apps.[92][93] | Mobile | Global |
Bot platform | April 2016 |
In April 2016, Facebook announced a bot platform for Messenger, including an API to build chat bots to interact with users. News publisher bots "message subscribers directly with news and other information",[95][96] while ride-sharing apps can offer a transportation option, hotel chains can answer questions about accommodations, and air travel companies can allow for check-ins, flight updates and travel changes.[97]
At the 2017 Facebook F8 conference, Facebook announced a range of enhancements for bots:
The slightly renamed "Discover" tab was officially launched in the United States in late June 2017.[102][103] |
All | Global |
"M" assistant | April 2017 (terminated) | In August 2015, Facebook announced M, an artificial intelligence virtual assistant for use in Messenger that is capable of automatically completing tasks for users, such as purchase items, arrange gift deliveries, book restaurants, and arrange travels.[104][105][106] In April 2017, Facebook enabled M for users in the U.S. M scans chats for keywords and then suggests relevant actions. For example, writing "You owe me $20" will make M offer its payments system.[107][108][109] The rollout of M suggestions was made official at Facebook's F8 conference on April 18, 2017.[100][101] In January 2018 it was announced that M would be discontinued at some future date. | All | U.S. |
"Home" messages panel | June 2016 | Facebook announced a "Home" button as a central location for sending and receiving messages. The Home button features the most recent messages, as well as a "Favorites" section for the contacts with the most frequent communication.[110] | Mobile | Global |
Secret Conversations | October 2016 | Messenger users can send each other end-to-end encrypted messages through an optional mode called "Secret Conversations", which uses the Signal Protocol. Users can also choose to send each other "self-destructing" messages; messages that are removed permanently following an optional time period.[111][112] | Mobile | Global |
Instant Games | November 2016 | Allows users to quickly play games including Pac-Man, Space Invaders, EverWing and Words with Friends Frenzy inside Messenger. Games are asynchronous through high scores rather than directly at the same time, and are built on HTML5 rather than apps.[113][114] In May 2017, Facebook announced the global rollout of Instant Games.[115][116] | Mobile | Global |
Messenger Day | March 2017 | Following an initial test in Poland in September 2016,[117][118] Facebook launched "Messenger Day" in March 2017. Messenger Day, similar to Snapchat's Stories feature, gives the user the ability to share photos and videos with friends that automatically disappear after 24 hours.[119][120][121] | Mobile | Global |
Reactions and Mentions | March 2017 | Reactions let the user tap and hold on a message to add a reaction through an emoji, while Mentions let the user type @ in a group chat to give a particular user a direct notification.[122][123][124] | All | Global |
Augmented reality effects | December 2017 | "World Effects" lets users add 3D augmented reality effects into their photos and videos.[125][126] | Mobile | Global |
AI Chatbots in messengers | Jan 2018 | Facebook started allowing messenger AI bots after 2 steps of verification. | All | Global |
Messenger Rooms | April 2020 | A video chat feature that allows users to chat with up to 50 people at a time.[50] | All | Global |
Monetization
In January 2017, Facebook announced that it was testing showing advertisements in Facebook Messenger's home feed. At the time, the testing was limited to a "small number of users in Australia and Thailand", with the ad format being swipe-based carousel ads.[127][128][129] In July, the company announced that they were expanding the testing to a global audience. Stan Chudnovsky, head of Messenger, told VentureBeat that "We’ll start slow ... When the average user can be sure to see them we truly don’t know because we’re just going to be very data-driven and user feedback-driven on making that decision".[130][131] Facebook told TechCrunch that the advertisements' placement in the inbox depends on factors such as thread count, phone screen size, and pixel density.[132] In a TechCrunch editorial by Devin Coldewey, he described the ads as "huge" in the space they occupy, "intolerable" in the way they appear in the user interface, and "irrelevant" due to the lack of context. Coldewey finished by writing "Advertising is how things get paid for on the internet, including TechCrunch, so I’m not an advocate of eliminating it or blocking it altogether. But bad advertising experiences can spoil a perfectly good app like (for the purposes of argument) Messenger. Messaging is a personal, purposeful use case and these ads are a bad way to monetize it."[133]
Reception
In November 2014, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) listed Facebook Messenger (Facebook chat) on its Secure Messaging Scorecard. It received a score of 2 out of 7 points on the scorecard. It received points for having communications encrypted in transit and for having recently completed an independent security audit. It missed points because the communications were not encrypted with keys the provider didn't have access to, users could not verify contacts' identities, past messages were not secure if the encryption keys were stolen, the source code was not open to independent review, and the security design was not properly documented.[134][135][136]
As stated by Facebook in its Help Center, there is no way to log out of the Facebook Messenger application. Instead, users can choose between different availability statuses, including "Appear as inactive", "Switch accounts", and "Turn off notifications".[137] Media outlets have reported on a workaround, by pressing a "Clear data" option in the application's menu in Settings on Android devices, which returns the user to the log-in screen.[138][139]
User growth
After being separated from the main Facebook app, Facebook Messenger had 600 million users in April 2015.[66] This grew to 900 million in June 2016,[94] 1 billion in July 2016,[140][141] and 1.2 billion in April 2017.[142][143]
In March 2020, total messaging traffic increased by 50% in countries that were on quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Group calls grew by more than 1,000%.[144]
Government attempt at surveillance/decryption
In early 2018, the US Department of Justice went to court to attempt to force Facebook to modify its Messenger app to enable surveillance by third parties so that agents could listen in on encrypted voice conversations over Messenger. [145]:1 The court decided against the Justice Department, but sealed the case. [146]:1 In November 2018, the ACLU and EFF filed suit to have the case unsealed so that the public can be informed about the encryption/surveillance debate. [147] [148] [149]:1
See also
References
- "Facebook Messenger". APKMirror. Android Police. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Facebook Messenger". App Store. Apple Inc. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". Microsoft Store. Microsoft. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". Mac App Store. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". APKMirror. Android Police. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- "Facebook Messenger". APKMirror. Android Police. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- "Get Messenger (Beta)". Microsoft Store. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger – Text and Video Chat for Free APKs". APKMirror. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". App Store. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". Microsoft Store. Microsoft. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- "Facebook Messenger". Mac App Store. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- "Facebook Interface Languages". Facebook (Select your language).
- "www.messenger.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic - Alexa". Alexa.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- Stenovec, Timothy (13 August 2014). "The Real Reason Facebook Is Forcing You To Download Messenger". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Arrington, Michael (14 March 2008). "Facebook To Launch Instant Messaging Service". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- McCarthy, Caroline (14 March 2008). "Report: Facebook IM service will debut soon". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Hendrickson, Mark (6 April 2008). "Facebook Chat Launches, For Some". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Farber, Dan (6 April 2008). "Facebook Chat begins to roll out". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Siegler, MG (15 November 2010). "Facebook's Modern Messaging System: Seamless, History, And A Social Inbox". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Siegler, MG (1 March 2011). "Facebook Acquires Group Messaging Service Beluga In A Talent AND Technology Deal". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Kincaid, Jason (9 August 2011). "Facebook Launches Standalone iPhone/Android Messenger App (And It's Beluga)". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Parr, Ben (9 August 2011). "Facebook Launches Dedicated Messaging App for iPhone & Android [PICS]". Mashable. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Protalinski, Emil (19 October 2011). "Facebook Messenger version 1.5 is out: BlackBerry, iOS 5 support". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Trenholm, Richard (21 October 2011). "Facebook Messenger now on BlackBerry in new blow to BBM". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Fingas, Jon (4 March 2014). "Facebook Messenger arrives for Windows Phone sans voice features". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Betters, Elyse (5 March 2014). "Facebook Messenger lands for Windows Phone - without voice messaging and chat heads". Pocket-lint. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (9 April 2014). "Facebook Is Forcing All Users To Download Messenger By Ripping Chat Out Of Its Main Apps". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Hamburger, Ellis (9 April 2014). "Facebook will turn off messaging in its mobile app, forcing you to download Messenger". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (3 July 2014). "Facebook Messenger Finally Gets An iPad Version". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Sawers, Paul (3 July 2014). "Facebook Messenger is now optimized for iPad". The Next Web. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Welch, Chris (8 April 2015). "Facebook launches standalone Messenger for web browsers". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Wagner, Kurt (8 April 2015). "Facebook Launches Messenger for Web Browsers". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- F., Adnan (13 July 2015). "Official Facebook Messenger and Instagram apps arrive for Samsung Z1". SamMobile. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- "Facebook Messenger for Windows 10 PC now live in the Windows Store". Windows Central. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- Constine, Josh (27 April 2017). "Facebook sidesteps Snapchat by launching Messenger Lite in 132 more countries". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- Statt, Nick (27 April 2017). "Facebook's Messenger Lite app launches in 132 more countries today". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- Perez, Sarah (18 May 2017). "Facebook Messenger debuts a new look focused on improving navigation". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
- Regan, Tom (18 May 2017). "Facebook makes Messenger easier to use for social butterflies". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
- Constine, Josh (21 November 2011). "Facebook Testing Messenger for Windows Ticker+Chat Desktop Client". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Protalinski, Emil (23 November 2011). "Facebook testing Messenger for Windows desktop client". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (29 December 2011). "Update: Facebook Officially Releases "Messenger For Windows" Desktop Client Following Leak". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Warren, Tom (29 December 2011). "Facebook Messenger for Windows download made official following leak". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Lee, Kevin (27 February 2014). "Facebook Messenger on Windows and Firefox will be no more March 3". TechRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- McGarry, Caitlin (27 February 2014). "Facebook kills Messenger for Windows". PC World. International Data Group. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Protalinski, Emil (3 December 2012). "Mozilla launches Facebook Messenger for Firefox, lets you IM your friends from anywhere on the Web". The Next Web. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Protalinski, Emil (27 February 2014). "Facebook gives up on desktop apps: Facebook Messenger for Firefox will also shut down on March 3". The Next Web. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- "These apps were the most-downloaded of the decade". The Mercury News. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- "You can no longer sign up for Facebook Messenger with just a phone number". 27 December 2019.
- "Facebook kicks off long-awaited Messenger for Mac rollout". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- O'Flaherty, Kate. "Facebook Users Beware: Here's Why Messenger Rooms Is Not Actually That Private". Forbes. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- Kastrenakes, Jacob (22 July 2020). "Facebook Messenger can now lock your chats behind Face ID". The Verge. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- Constine, Josh (4 December 2012). "No Facebook Account Required: Facebook Messenger For Android Lets You Sign Up With Just A Phone Number". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Geron, Tomio (4 December 2012). "Facebook Messenger Takes On SMS, With No Account Needed". Forbes. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (29 October 2013). "To Assimilate SMS, Facebook's Android Messenger Tries Letting You Reach Non-Friends By Phone Number". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Ruddock, David (29 October 2013). "Facebook Messenger Getting Major Overhaul: SMS Dead, No Longer Need To Be Friends To Send Messages". Android Police. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- "Chat Heads come to Facebook Messenger for Android". The Verge. Vox Media. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Ravenscraft, Eric (12 April 2013). "Chat Heads Come To Facebook Messenger Without Facebook Home, Regular App Updated To Prepare For Home Arrival". Android Police. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (17 March 2015). "Facebook Introduces Free Friend-To-Friend Payments Through Messages". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Truong, Alice (17 March 2015). "You'll soon be able to send money through Facebook Messenger". Quartz. Atlantic Media. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Lee, Nicole (11 April 2017). "Facebook brings group payments to Messenger". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- Perez, Sarah (11 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger now supports group payments". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- O'Dell, J. (3 January 2013). "Facebook now has voicemail — and voice calling in Canada". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Hamburger, Ellis (3 January 2013). "Facebook tests free voice calling in Messenger app". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Hardawar, Devindra (16 January 2013). "Facebook quietly brings voice calls to U.S. iPhone owners". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Hamburger, Ellis (16 January 2013). "Facebook launches free calling for all iPhone users in the US". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Constine, Josh (27 April 2015). "Facebook Messenger Launches Free VOIP Video Calls Over Cellular And Wi-Fi". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- King, Hope (27 April 2015). "Facebook Messenger now lets you make video calls". CNN. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (20 April 2016). "Facebook Messenger launches Group Calling to become your phone". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Kokalitcheva, Kia (20 April 2016). "Facebook Adds Free Group Voice Calls to Its Messenger App". Fortune. Time Inc. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Statt, Nick (19 December 2016). "Facebook Messenger now lets you video chat with up to 50 people". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Yeung, Ken (19 December 2016). "Facebook Messenger now supports group video chat". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- Gartenberg, Chaim (26 June 2017). "Facebook adds animated reactions and filters to Messenger video chats". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Matney, Lucas (26 June 2017). "Facebook brings new masks, filters and reactions to Messenger video chat". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Welch, Chris (4 June 2015). "Facebook Messenger now lets you send friends a map with your location". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- Swider, Matt (5 June 2015). "Your exact location can be shared in Facebook Messenger". TechRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- Swanner, Nate (4 June 2015). "Facebook Messenger now has a more direct way to share your location". The Next Web. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- Newton, Casey (27 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger adds temporary live location sharing". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (27 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger now lets you privately share your Live Location for an hour". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- Sorrentino, Mike (27 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger's Live Location helps you track friends". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- King, Hope (25 March 2015). "7 big changes coming to Facebook". CNN. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Murphy, Samantha (25 March 2015). "Everything you need to know about the changes coming to Facebook". Mashable. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Oreskovic, Alexei (25 March 2015). "Facebook brings apps, businesses to Messenger service". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Rosenberg, Seth (16 December 2015). "Introducing Transportation on Messenger". Facebook Newsroom. Facebook. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Hawkins, Andrew J. (16 December 2015). "Facebook Messenger now lets you hail an Uber car". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh; Buhr, Sarah (16 December 2015). "You Can Now Order Ubers (And Soon Lyfts) In Facebook Messenger To Prove You're On Your Way". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Hawkins, Andrew J. (7 March 2016). "Facebook Messenger now lets you hail a Lyft car". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Fingas, Jon (7 March 2016). "Lyft wants you to hail rides through Facebook Messenger". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Lopez, Napier (8 July 2016). "You can now book Uber carpools in Facebook Messenger". The Next Web. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Diaz, Justin (8 July 2016). "Facebook's Messenger Now Lets You Request UberPOOL Rides". Android Headlines. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Arthur, Charles (4 December 2012). "Facebook turns Messenger into a text message killer". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Panzarino, Matthew (20 September 2012). "Facebook Messenger for Android updated with texting support, fresh design for conversations". The Next Web. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Perez, Sarah (11 February 2016). "Facebook Tests SMS Integration In Messenger, Launches Support For Multiple Accounts". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- El Khoury, Rita (11 February 2016). "Facebook Messenger Might Soon Get SMS Integration, Multiple Accounts, And A Blue Action Bar". Android Police. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (14 June 2016). "To beat SMS, Facebook Messenger eats SMS". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Newton, Casey (12 April 2016). "Facebook launches a bot platform for Messenger". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (12 April 2016). "Facebook launches Messenger platform with chatbots". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Guynn, Jessica (12 April 2016). "Zuckerberg's Facebook Messenger launches 'chat bots' platform". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- Constine, Josh (29 March 2017). "Facebook will launch group chatbots at F8". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- Kaser, Rachel (30 March 2017). "Facebook is bringing chatbots to groups on Messenger". The Next Web. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (18 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger launches group bots and bot discovery tab". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- Newton, Casey (18 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger adds app extensions and a bot store". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- Matney, Lucas (28 June 2017). "Facebook Messenger launches Discover as it takes on chatbots (again)". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Johnson, Khari (28 June 2017). "Facebook Messenger's new Discover tab features top bots". VentureBeat. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Olanoff, Drew; Constine, Josh (26 August 2015). "Facebook Is Adding A Personal Assistant Called "M" To Your Messenger App". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Kelly, Heather (26 August 2015). "Facebook made its own Siri: Meet M". CNN. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Hempel, Jessi (26 August 2015). "Facebook Launches M, Its Bold Answer to Siri and Cortana". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Statt, Nick (6 April 2017). "Facebook's AI assistant will now offer suggestions inside Messenger". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Lee, Nicole (6 April 2017). "Facebook's AI assistant is ready to hang out in Messenger". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Constine, Josh (6 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger's AI 'M' suggests features to use based on your convos". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Swant, Marty (16 June 2016). "Facebook Messenger Is Adding a Home Button to Help Users Keep Track of Conversations". Adweek. Beringer Capital. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Greenberg, Andy (4 October 2016). "You Can All Finally Encrypt Facebook Messenger, So Do It". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Wilhelm, Parker (4 October 2016). "Facebook Messenger flips the switch on encryption for everyone". TechRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (29 November 2016). "Facebook Messenger launches Instant Games". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Imms, Jason (30 November 2016). "Facebook Adds Instant Games to Messenger". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Statt, Nick (2 May 2017). "Facebook's Messenger games are now available to everyone". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- Constine, Josh (2 May 2017). "Facebook Messenger rolls out Instant Games worldwide". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- Constine, Josh; Lomas, Natasha; Biggs, John (30 September 2016). "Facebook "Messenger Day" is the chat app's new Snapchat Stories clone". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Heath, Alex (30 September 2016). "Facebook is testing its own version of Snapchat in the Messenger app". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- Vincent, James (9 March 2017). "Facebook's Snapchat stories clone, Messenger Day, is now rolling out globally". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (9 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger Day launches as a Snapchat Stories clone for making plans". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Heath, Alex (9 March 2017). "Facebook's clone of Snapchat is in Messenger now, too". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Vincent, James (23 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger gets reactions for individual messages and @ notifications". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Sarconi, Paul (23 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger Finally Makes Group Chat Not a Total Hassle". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Goldman, Joshua (23 March 2017). "Facebook Messenger gets Reactions and Mentions". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Statt, Nick (12 December 2017). "Facebook introduces new augmented reality effects for Messenger". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- Constine, Josh (12 December 2017). "Facebook opens AR platform and 'World Effects' to all developers". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- Wagner, Kurt (25 January 2017). "Facebook is testing News Feed-style ads inside Messenger". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Cohen, David (25 January 2017). "Facebook Testing Ads on Messenger Home Screen in Australia, Thailand". Adweek. Beringer Capital. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Perez, Sarah (25 January 2017). "Facebook Messenger begins testing ads…and they're big". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Johnson, Khari (11 July 2017). "Facebook to expand Messenger home screen ads beta worldwide". VentureBeat. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Welch, Chris (11 July 2017). "Ads are coming to Facebook Messenger's home screen". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Constine, Josh (11 July 2017). "Facebook Messenger globally tests injecting display ads into inbox". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Coldewey, Devin (11 July 2017). "Facebook's Messenger ads are bad and must be destroyed". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- "Secure Messaging Scorecard". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Perez, Sarah (5 November 2014). "Majority Of Top Messaging Apps And Tools Fail EFF's Security Review". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Mlot, Stephanie (5 November 2014). "Only 6 Messaging Apps Are Truly Secure". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- "Can I log out of Messenger?". Facebook Help Center. Facebook. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- Favre, Loie (12 November 2015). "How to log out of Facebook Messenger". Android Pit. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- Kaufman, Lori (7 October 2014). "How to Log Out of Facebook Messenger on Your Android Device". How-To Geek. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- Singleton, Micah (20 July 2016). "Facebook Messenger hits 1 billion users". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Wagner, Kurt (20 July 2016). "Facebook Messenger now has one billion active users". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- Constine, Josh (12 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger hits 1.2 billion monthly users, up from 1B in July". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- Wagner, Kurt; Molla, Rani (12 April 2017). "Facebook Messenger has 1.2 billion users and is now twice the size of Instagram". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- "Facebook group calls soar 1,000% in Italy lockdown". BBC News. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- Levine, Dan; Menn, Joseph (17 August 2018). "U.S. government seeks Facebook help to wiretap Messenger". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- Nakashima, Ellen (28 September 2018). "Facebook wins court battle over law enforcement access to encrypted phone calls". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- "AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION, AND RIANA PFEFFERKORN, Movants–Appellants, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Respondents–Appellees" (PDF). 12 June 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- "Details of Justice Department Efforts To Break Encryption of Facebook Messenger Must Be Made Public, EFF Tells Court - Ruling Blocking DOJ Should Be Unsealed To Keep Public Informed About Anti-Encryption Tactics". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 12 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- Whittaker, Zack (28 November 2018). "ACLU asks court to release a secret order forcing Facebook to wiretap Messenger". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2019.