4 ms·

Facebook to pull chat from iOS and Android apps in favour of Facebook Messenger

21 points by rocky5 12y ago

nemasu 12y ago
I dislike fragmentation, so this is probably a good thing? I don't use Facebook to really care either way though.
- higherpurpose 12y ago
  If you dislike fragmentation, then you shouldn't like this.
  - nemasu 12y ago
    I was under the impression they're consolidating 2 messaging front ends into one? I guess they're really just deleting one, but same difference.
    - corobo 12y ago
      You could see it as that but if you were only using the Facebook app you'd be going from a single app to two apps
      - mantrax4 12y ago
        Fragmentation is having multiple incompatible versions of the same thing, namely, two apps which both have a Facebook chat. Now there'll be one app with Facebook chat and one Facebook app without chat. No fragmentation.
        err4nt 12y ago
        There is absolutely fragmentation! What used to be one app is now three: Facebook (minus chat), Paper (with chat), and messages (only chat). This time last year 2/3 of those apps did not exist. They have fragmented the user experience into entirely different apps. The concept you are mistaking for fragmentation seems to be the concept of duplication'. Right now all three apps do messaging and they will soon be reducing that number to two (Messages and Paper). Not sure your math checks out…
        mantrax4 12y ago
        Well I'll give you this example. If Facebook would release 3 Facebook apps, where each has mostly the same features, but slightly different, and on top of that each requires a different user/login, that's definitely fragmentation. Say, you can argue WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, or Instagram and Facebook picture posting represent fragmentation for Facebook, as they do mostly the same thing, but are each in their own space and with their own APIs and their own users etc. Another example. iOS having lots of apps in one App Store is not "app store fragmentation". But Android having many separate app stores, many apps in each being the same (but tweaked or different versions) is "app store fragmentation".
sujito 12y ago
The new battlefield is the real estate on your phone´s front page. FB + Messenger + Instagram + Whatsapp: 4 out of 16 icons, not bad.
- rimantas 12y ago
  iPhone 5* screen has a place for 20 icons + 4 in the dock.
  - GotAnyMegadeth 12y ago
    Can you have folders on iOS? I've bundled all of my messaging apps together.
    - Spiritus 12y ago
      Yes you can.
    - bighi 12y ago
      Is there people still using iOS?
      - mdmarra 12y ago
        Yes.
      - artmageddon 12y ago
        *Are, and what makes you think there aren't??
      - jaegerpicker 12y ago
        I know I shouldn't feed the trolls but let's all be clear iOS still has a large percentage of web traffic, app downloads, and money spent in the app store/in-app purchases and it's lead it actually growing.
  - bookwormAT 12y ago
    For most smartphones the number of icons that fit on a home screen is independent from the device type or the operating system on the device. Different Android-based operating systems come with different UIs, and installing a new home screen UI on any of them is as easy as installing Angry Birds.
brohoolio 12y ago
For people like myself who have Facebook on my mobile but not the messaging app it means we now need to install it. For some percentage of folks like myself that means we might start using facebook messaging more instead of using it as the messaging platform of last resort.
- jfoster 12y ago
  There's also going to be some percentage that drop off their messaging platform as a result. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.
- SixSigma 12y ago
  Or just use a web browser and use the FB mobile website.
  - w1ntermute 12y ago
    I use Tinfoil for this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.danvelazco.fbwrapper https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.danvelazco...
celebril 12y ago
Oh great, now there's a double whammy 40 MB + 40 MB for the stupid MqttPushService that is run twice by the Facebook and the Facebook Messenger apps. Might as well not use Facebook on this 512 MB device. Why can't Facebook just implement push via GCM without sucking all the memory and wakelocks itself?
- balladeer 12y ago
  Maybe it doesn't want to pass through a Google service.
jdevonport 12y ago
I have tried and uninstalled Messenger a few times, it seems like a really bad user experience to be bounced out of the main app whenever you want to have a quick chat with someone. Waiting for apps to multitask switch can get very irritating and I think for me it would mean I use Facebook chat less if anything.
robk 12y ago
I'm quite pleased about this actually. I find FB messenger to be annoying and I hate getting interrupted when I'm just popping into the FB app for a minute or two. This way I can leave it uninstalled entirely and check FB messages later from home.
koyote 12y ago
I see this as a good thing. It will hopefully reduce the memory and processing the main Facebook app leaves and at the same time it will give everyone a great opportunity to ditch the Facebook messaging service in favour of the plethora of other messaging apps already installed on their devices. I, for one, will stop using the Facebook messenger entirely on my phone.
- jfoster 12y ago
  Will be interesting to see if they see this through. I might be missing something, but I don't see any business reason for them to do this. They will lose some users, and that seems a painful prospect for them. They value user bases so much that they paid $19B for Whatsapp. Difficult to imagine them not reversing this decision at a later date.
  - jaegerpicker 12y ago
    Their purchase of whatsapp is exactly why they did this, IMO. I'd be very surprised if facebook messages doesn't become whatsapp and get completely tied into it. That's really the only way buying WhatsApp for $19B makes sense.
- thix0tr0pic 12y ago
  I've actually done the opposite, ditching facebook exclusively for the messenger app. I've yet to see something adopted so universally by the people I talk to most.
qzc4 12y ago
This is just an opportunity for Facebook to show twice as many ads as usual. It's sad, but I really do feel bad for the people who use Facebook nowadays. When I have to look at the job market again, I'm really not looking forward to having to (a) sign up in the first place, (b) have that stupid like button following me around everywhere again and (c) have to become "friends" with people that I really don't want to see anymore. And then they bought Oculus VR. Seriously?
- jfoster 12y ago
  How does it let them show more ads? Users already spend a huge amount of their time on mobile devices in the Facebook app. One user can only pay attention to one app at a time.
  - qzc4 12y ago
    I guess not on iOS, but on Android you have to go through a few more steps to "chat" -- home > messenger app > search contacts > chat, versus just tapping a button. That is 2 more screens worth of ads to go through.
- poopsintub 12y ago
  I have never seen an ad in messenger.
klapinat0r 12y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7562642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7562642
phatfish 12y ago
If the Messenger app will work without the Facebook app this could be a good thing? I would like to know about IMs people send me, but i have no interest in the stream of adverts and status updates...
- JonLim 12y ago
  I've been using the Messenger app exclusively for the past year, as I had no interest in looking through status updates or anything that the Facebook app did. Works wonderfully if you just want to respond to messages or send messages to people.
hownottowrite 12y ago
Not much of a surprise. It's a necessary first step to slowly integrating WhatsApp.
jasonlingx 12y ago
This is incredibly annoying. For the last couple of months the FB app has been switching me to the messenger app every time I accidentally hit the messenger button in the middle of the bottom navbar. And every single time it nags me with a full screen interstitial asking me to turn on notifications!!! Removing all FB apps now.
alexbilbie 12y ago
I've been using the two apps for a while now and I'm perfectly happy - the only annoying aspect is sometimes I have a little red notification counter above both apps when I receive a message. The principle reason why I like the Messages app is that it's very fast to load - presumably because it isn't trying to download my friends' terrible photos and timelines and events and all the other junk that is in the main FB app.
welly 12y ago
Looks like I won't be messaging anyone on Facebook from my phone then. That was an easy decision.

21 points by rocky5 12y ago

nemasu 12y ago

I dislike fragmentation, so this is probably a good thing? I don't use Facebook to really care either way though.

higherpurpose 12y ago
If you dislike fragmentation, then you shouldn't like this.
- nemasu 12y ago
  I was under the impression they're consolidating 2 messaging front ends into one? I guess they're really just deleting one, but same difference.
  - corobo 12y ago
    You could see it as that but if you were only using the Facebook app you'd be going from a single app to two apps
    - mantrax4 12y ago
      Fragmentation is having multiple incompatible versions of the same thing, namely, two apps which both have a Facebook chat. Now there'll be one app with Facebook chat and one Facebook app without chat. No fragmentation.
      - err4nt 12y ago
        There is absolutely fragmentation! What used to be one app is now three: Facebook (minus chat), Paper (with chat), and messages (only chat). This time last year 2/3 of those apps did not exist. They have fragmented the user experience into entirely different apps. The concept you are mistaking for fragmentation seems to be the concept of duplication'. Right now all three apps do messaging and they will soon be reducing that number to two (Messages and Paper). Not sure your math checks out…
        mantrax4 12y ago
        Well I'll give you this example. If Facebook would release 3 Facebook apps, where each has mostly the same features, but slightly different, and on top of that each requires a different user/login, that's definitely fragmentation. Say, you can argue WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, or Instagram and Facebook picture posting represent fragmentation for Facebook, as they do mostly the same thing, but are each in their own space and with their own APIs and their own users etc. Another example. iOS having lots of apps in one App Store is not "app store fragmentation". But Android having many separate app stores, many apps in each being the same (but tweaked or different versions) is "app store fragmentation".

sujito 12y ago

The new battlefield is the real estate on your phone´s front page. FB + Messenger + Instagram + Whatsapp: 4 out of 16 icons, not bad.

rimantas 12y ago
iPhone 5* screen has a place for 20 icons + 4 in the dock.
- GotAnyMegadeth 12y ago
  Can you have folders on iOS? I've bundled all of my messaging apps together.
  - Spiritus 12y ago
    Yes you can.
  - bighi 12y ago
    Is there people still using iOS?
    - mdmarra 12y ago
      Yes.
    - artmageddon 12y ago
      *Are, and what makes you think there aren't??
    - jaegerpicker 12y ago
      I know I shouldn't feed the trolls but let's all be clear iOS still has a large percentage of web traffic, app downloads, and money spent in the app store/in-app purchases and it's lead it actually growing.
- bookwormAT 12y ago
  For most smartphones the number of icons that fit on a home screen is independent from the device type or the operating system on the device. Different Android-based operating systems come with different UIs, and installing a new home screen UI on any of them is as easy as installing Angry Birds.

brohoolio 12y ago

For people like myself who have Facebook on my mobile but not the messaging app it means we now need to install it. For some percentage of folks like myself that means we might start using facebook messaging more instead of using it as the messaging platform of last resort.

jfoster 12y ago
There's also going to be some percentage that drop off their messaging platform as a result. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.
SixSigma 12y ago
Or just use a web browser and use the FB mobile website.
- w1ntermute 12y ago
  I use Tinfoil for this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.danvelazco.fbwrapper https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.danvelazco...

celebril 12y ago

Oh great, now there's a double whammy 40 MB + 40 MB for the stupid MqttPushService that is run twice by the Facebook and the Facebook Messenger apps. Might as well not use Facebook on this 512 MB device. Why can't Facebook just implement push via GCM without sucking all the memory and wakelocks itself?

balladeer 12y ago
Maybe it doesn't want to pass through a Google service.

jdevonport 12y ago

I have tried and uninstalled Messenger a few times, it seems like a really bad user experience to be bounced out of the main app whenever you want to have a quick chat with someone. Waiting for apps to multitask switch can get very irritating and I think for me it would mean I use Facebook chat less if anything.

robk 12y ago

I'm quite pleased about this actually. I find FB messenger to be annoying and I hate getting interrupted when I'm just popping into the FB app for a minute or two. This way I can leave it uninstalled entirely and check FB messages later from home.

koyote 12y ago

I see this as a good thing. It will hopefully reduce the memory and processing the main Facebook app leaves and at the same time it will give everyone a great opportunity to ditch the Facebook messaging service in favour of the plethora of other messaging apps already installed on their devices. I, for one, will stop using the Facebook messenger entirely on my phone.

jfoster 12y ago
Will be interesting to see if they see this through. I might be missing something, but I don't see any business reason for them to do this. They will lose some users, and that seems a painful prospect for them. They value user bases so much that they paid $19B for Whatsapp. Difficult to imagine them not reversing this decision at a later date.
- jaegerpicker 12y ago
  Their purchase of whatsapp is exactly why they did this, IMO. I'd be very surprised if facebook messages doesn't become whatsapp and get completely tied into it. That's really the only way buying WhatsApp for $19B makes sense.
thix0tr0pic 12y ago
I've actually done the opposite, ditching facebook exclusively for the messenger app. I've yet to see something adopted so universally by the people I talk to most.

qzc4 12y ago

This is just an opportunity for Facebook to show twice as many ads as usual. It's sad, but I really do feel bad for the people who use Facebook nowadays. When I have to look at the job market again, I'm really not looking forward to having to (a) sign up in the first place, (b) have that stupid like button following me around everywhere again and (c) have to become "friends" with people that I really don't want to see anymore. And then they bought Oculus VR. Seriously?

jfoster 12y ago
How does it let them show more ads? Users already spend a huge amount of their time on mobile devices in the Facebook app. One user can only pay attention to one app at a time.
- qzc4 12y ago
  I guess not on iOS, but on Android you have to go through a few more steps to "chat" -- home > messenger app > search contacts > chat, versus just tapping a button. That is 2 more screens worth of ads to go through.
poopsintub 12y ago
I have never seen an ad in messenger.

klapinat0r 12y ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7562642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7562642

phatfish 12y ago

If the Messenger app will work without the Facebook app this could be a good thing? I would like to know about IMs people send me, but i have no interest in the stream of adverts and status updates...

JonLim 12y ago
I've been using the Messenger app exclusively for the past year, as I had no interest in looking through status updates or anything that the Facebook app did. Works wonderfully if you just want to respond to messages or send messages to people.

hownottowrite 12y ago

Not much of a surprise. It's a necessary first step to slowly integrating WhatsApp.

jasonlingx 12y ago

This is incredibly annoying. For the last couple of months the FB app has been switching me to the messenger app every time I accidentally hit the messenger button in the middle of the bottom navbar. And every single time it nags me with a full screen interstitial asking me to turn on notifications!!! Removing all FB apps now.

alexbilbie 12y ago

I've been using the two apps for a while now and I'm perfectly happy - the only annoying aspect is sometimes I have a little red notification counter above both apps when I receive a message. The principle reason why I like the Messages app is that it's very fast to load - presumably because it isn't trying to download my friends' terrible photos and timelines and events and all the other junk that is in the main FB app.

welly 12y ago

Looks like I won't be messaging anyone on Facebook from my phone then. That was an easy decision.