Facebook announces a simplified and revised Messenger application

Facebook's Messenger application returns to the essentials in its new redesign.

The company announced Tuesday the change of presentation, called "Messenger 4", in order to boost consumer satisfaction. Stan Chudnovsky, vice president of Facebook Messenger, made the announcement in a blog, touting the simpler design.

Chudnovsky said the layout "put the emphasis on messaging and connection".

According to a study conducted by Messenger, 71% of participants said that simplicity was a top priority for the user interface. The redesigned email application has condensed the previous layout of 9 tabs to 3 – "Cats", "People" and "Discover".

Along with the simpler presentation, Facebook has introduced a "color gradient" feature that can customize the color of chat bubbles to reflect the "mood or topic of conversation" of a user, wrote Chudnovsky.

In September, Facebook revealed in a blog post that the company had reached 300 million active users of Facebook Stories and Messenger Stories. The company's Messenger application dominates small platforms like Snapchat, which had 188 million active users in August.

Facebook has been criticized for its response to privacy issues and data breaches. More recently, in September, the company announced having suffered a data breach affecting approximately 29 million users. Facebook noted that the cyber attack has not affected its Messenger application.

Chudnovsky took the lead in Facebook's email application after former boss David Marcus resigned in May. A week before his resignation, Marcus announced the plan to redesign the Messenger application at a conference.

According to Chudnovsky, "Messenger 4" will be deployed in "phases", giving users time to adjust to updates. Future features will include "Dark Mode", an interface that mitigates the reflections of the user's device.