On Thursday, 18th of May 2017, Facebook announces its plan to update the current version of it messenger app to improve navigation and to continue to be the best. According to the articles released, the company announces that Facebook messenger is getting a new look, not only to improve appearance but also to make interaction and communication between users easier than before.
For this reason, the company has adjusted how things were before on the app like rearranging and getting rid of some features that are less important on the homepage.
However, for those who are not satisfied with the changes made, Facebook elucidates that the design was made to emphasis on other means of communication people can use instead of text messages.
What’s new?
The company is making changes to the way things were on the app to make it smarter and easier to use.
Firstly, Facebook has reorganized the home screen to make navigation easier and to easily start from where you stop when you make the last visit (unlike before when you need to start all over). In addition to this, Facebook messenger now features new tabs at the top of the home screen for you to easily navigate between groups, your messages, and active contacts.
Moreover, the update now introduces a red dots to serve as notification that will alert you when there is uncheck activities (like unread messages, new active contacts and so on).
Another change made to the app was that the Group feature has been moved from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen (where it was located before) to the top of the screen. However, this changes made has made it a less important feature unlike before when it was located at the bottom.
Facebook now encourage users to converse with one another through the app because the new update features a tab that allows users to easily know who is online and who is not with the new scrollable list that is placed vertically unlike before when it features a horizontal list.
The new update now has a dedicated button for the Game feature (that was just released earlier this month). This was possible because some of the older features have been relocated and this has made way for the newer ones.
Strangely, the company has decided to reduce the size of the camera button, which was too big before. However, this has been a sign that the company wants to compete with Snapchat on all platforms.
Finally, the company confirmed that the feature will be released starting from this week to both IOS and android.
