Facebook testing out video and voice calling in main app
It looks like Facebook is working on streamlining its Messenger service once again. Currently, voice and video calls are placed through their messaging app but now they’re bringing the capability on the main app as well to a small number of users. This is part of their plan to lessen the need of jumping back and forth between apps even though that’s probably one of the main things that people are doing on Messenger. And it’s also a step towards integrating all of the social media giant’s apps and services.
Bloomberg reports that some users will now be able to place voice or video calls from the main Facebook app instead of just the Messenger app. According to Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger, this is still in the testing phase so only a small number of users, including those in the U.S, will be able to do so. Facebook has started seeing Messenger as a messenger instead of just a stand-alone app that they spun off from the main app seven years ago.
They are seeing that some people want to do other Facebook stuff while on a call, like watch videos and play games so having the functionality on the main app will be useful. Hayes said that over time we’ll see more things like this to connect all the functionalities across Facebook apps so it becomes the “connective tissue for people to be together when apart, regardless of which service they’re choosing to use.”
Facebook also has plans to integrate all of their messaging app platforms like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp so people don’t need to download all of the apps or switch between them just to reach people that they need to talk to. Messaging between Instagram and Messenger was already enabled late last year and eventually, WhatsApp will also be added although no timetable has been set yet. When it comes to video and voice calling, they’re also available on other apps and devices that use Messenger technology like Instagram, Oculus, and Portal.
Not everyone is of course crazy about the idea of Facebook “intertwining” all of its services. Critics say that it would actually make it extremely difficult to break the company up in light of antitrust lawsuits, particularly the one filed last week among others.
