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Facebook’s Messenger app now supports CallKit on iOS 10, brings VoIP calling to CarPlay

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iOS 10 lets third-party developers use the standard call look and feel from the Phone app in their own apps with something known as CallKit, and Facebook’s latest update to Messenger is already taking advantage of it. Messenger for iOS has let you make calls over the Internet to your friends for a while, and now incoming calls to Messenger will behave just like standard phone calls. This improved behavior even extends to CarPlay.


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Facebook Messenger gains new 3D Touch features, iOS 10 beta fix

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Facebook Messenger has had 3D Touch support for Quick Actions from the app icon since December, and today the app has updated to expand 3D Touch features inside the app. Using the latest flagship iPhones (iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus currently), Facebook users can Peek and Pop inside Messenger to quickly preview and access information using the pressure-sensitive display feature.


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Report: Text hidden deep in Facebook Messenger code hints at monetization plan

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According to a report out of The Information today, Facebook has begun preparing several new features for Facebook Messenger, including a new service that allows users to pay for items to be picked up in person, a new “secret” chat feature, and more. If nothing else, these features could be insight into how the company plans to monetize its messaging platform…


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Facebook Messenger’s new ‘Photo Magic’ feature automates sharing shots of your friends instantly

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A new feature in Facebook Messenger is now rolling out that scans photos added to your camera roll in search of your Facebook friends, and suggests that you send them to the people it finds. It’s a pretty nifty feature, if you feel comfortable with Facebook looking at every single photo you take on your device and constantly processing data on the friends you’re hanging out with…
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LinkedIn revamps messaging experience on iOS with redesigned app

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LinkedIn, the popular social network for connecting business people, has announced that its messaging experience is getting a serious design overhaul from today. Unlike the previous inbox, messages will no longer follow a traditional email format. Instead, it’s turned towards a messaging app design similar to Facebook Messenger.

LinkedIn has built everything from scratch, from the ground up with a cleaner, streamlined look with a brand new chat-style user interface. You can chat with contacts individually or send group messages, and conversations are organized around the people who are important to you. What’s more, you’ll be able to send documents, images, stickers, emojis and GIFs in your messages.

Starting today, we are rolling out a new messaging experience on LinkedIn that offers an easier and more lightweight way to have professional conversations with your connections.  We know many of you have been asking for this ability and we’ve taken a thoughtful approach to reflect the evolving ways professionals are communicating with one another today, as well as, the different ways our members are interacting with each other across our international markets.

From today, the new messaging experience will by rolling out to English-speaking LinkedIn members across the globe on iOS, Android and on the web. If you have LinkedIn installed on your iPhone, check the App Store for updates and you should find one waiting for you over the coming days or weeks.

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Facebook Messenger’s free video calling now available worldwide

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After adding support for a new cross-platform video chat service through its Facebook Messenger mobile apps, Facebook has now announced that the feature is rolling out to all worldwide.

The feature first launched back in April for users on iOS and Android in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Laos, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, the UK, the US and Uruguay. Today, Facebook said the feature is now rolled out globally “with the exception of a few countries” that it’s still working on:

Quick update on video calling in Messenger: we’re happy to share we’ve now rolled out the capability globally, with the exception of a few countries we’re still working on improving quality for.

You can check out the new Facebook Messenger video calling feature through the latest versions of the iOS and Android apps.

Facebook Messenger for iOS adds cross-platform video chat support

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Facebook continues to add new capabilities to its Messenger app today with the launch of a new video calling feature. A new video icon at the top of conversation threads will initiate a call, allowing participants to communicate across platforms over Wi-Fi or LTE connections.

The addition puts Facebook in competition with Apple’s FaceTime, Microsoft’s Skype, and other similar services. Interestingly, web-based video chat has been available on the desktop for some time, and was previously powered by Skype.


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Facebook unveils platform to integrate third-party apps, customer support for businesses into Messenger

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During its F8 Developer Conference today, Facebook announced a new Facebook Messenger Platform that will allow third-party apps to integrate with its popular Messenger app.
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Facebook Messenger adds iOS 8 extension, WordPress gains WYSIWYG editor & image features

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Facebook is out with a useful update to its Messenger app for iPhone and iPad today adding an action extension for sharing content from other apps on iOS 8. This adds the ability to have deep Facebook Messenger integration with other apps including Safari and Photos just like Apple’s own Messages app.

Once enabled, you can do things like share images and videos from the Photos app or links from Safari directly to your contacts on Facebook Messenger without having to jump back and forth between apps. Facebook Messenger version 22.0 is rolling out now on the App Store.

WordPress’s mobile blogging app for iPhone and iPad also received a new update bringing the experience closer to that on the desktop … 
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Facebook launches ‘Stickered’ companion app for Messenger on iOS

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After moving the messaging component of its iOS client out into a separate app, Facebook has continued its pattern of breaking up the functionality of its software today by launching a new iOS application called Stickered.

The app launched a few days ago on Android, but only became available today for iOS users. It allows users to add stickers to photos from their camera roll, or overlay them directly on a live camera view before snapping a photo.


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Facebook Messenger mobile apps surpass 500 million monthly users

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Facebook announced this morning that over 500 million people are now using its Messenger app per month. The impressive milestone comes just days after Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg explained why Facebook Messenger was turned into a standalone app for iOS and Android, a move it made in July after disabling messaging in the main Facebook app.
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Facebook’s now required Messenger gets full screen videos and images

Facebook Messenger iconFacebook released version 9.0 of its Messenger app for iOS today bringing an improvement to how photos and videos are viewed. Previously trapped to a smaller section when shared, photos and videos in messages can now be viewed full screen like you would expect.

It’s a small improvement to Facebook Messenger, but now that the social network is stripping messaging functionality out of its primary Facebook for iPhone app, you can expect to see even more focus in this space in the future. For example, Facebook recently released a dedicated version of Messenger for iPad after years without it.

You can grab the latest version of Facebook Messenger for iOS on the App Store.