Facebook could report discussions to the main mobile application

Remember when a few years ago, Facebook forced us all to download the standalone Messenger application to chat with friends? It seems he is coming back to this issue now and is looking to re-enter the discussions in Facebook's main application.

In a tweet, applications researcher Jane Manchun Wong has uploaded a screenshot of the new built-in chat feature. In the upper right corner you can see the same Messenger icon that takes you to a chat window directly in the main application itself. For the moment, if you want to chat via Facebook on mobile, the app will switch you immediately to Messenger or invite you to download it if you do not already have it.

All this follows the recent news that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to merge Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger into one platform. According to the New York Times, sources within Facebook said that even if the services would remain their own applications, the technology behind these three services will be unified. Whatever the case may be, the Times' report suggests that the integration of the three courier services is a big priority for Facebook in 2019, as Zuckerberg would insist that unification be carried out in the future. 39, here the end of the year or the beginning of 2020.

It is possible that the introduction of the discussion in Facebook's main application is part of this effort, but it is unclear whether it will be released to the general public or when. Gizmodo has contacted Facebook for comments, but has not received any response in the immediate future.

At the very least, testing this feature on Facebook gives us insight into how Zuck's mind has evolved with Facebook's messaging and "app family" as a whole. In 2014, he explained that the forced passage to a standalone Messenger application was due to the fact that, "on mobile, each application can only focus on one thing, think it. … The main purpose of the Facebook application is the thread of news.

It is clear that this vision of an application has changed since Facebook acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg had initially promised that both Instagram and WhatsApp would remain independent. Since then, the founders of Instagram and WhatsApp have all left – quite abruptly – after Zuckerberg began to weigh more. And, given all the bad press following Facebook's seemingly endless scandals, bundling all of these apps could be a ploy to keep users locked and engaged.

[The Next Web]