By Chris Skeldon 
After nearly ten years of the split, Messenger will once again become part of the Facebook app. This Tuesday (7), Meta announced that it’s trying to bring the messenger back into Mark Zuckerberg’s main social network app, allowing access to inboxes without having to change apps.
“We’re testing people’s ability to access their Messenger inbox within the Facebook app,” Tom Allison, Facebook Lead at Meta, said in the company’s official blog. “You’ll see us expand that test soon.
Messenger ceased to be part of Facebook in 2014 — at the time, the change was justified to provide a better experience. The separation of applications consolidated the messenger as a single product, but it also created some inconveniences for users, such as the need to download both programs simultaneously to do things that only needed one program before.
Messenger has been brought back to Facebook
Reintegration of applications did not come as a surprise to those who followed the leaks on the subject. The Verge and social media analyst Matt Navarra reported last year that Meta was already looking into bringing the platforms together into one program, reversing a 2014 decision.
In 2019, evidence was also revealed that the company was experimenting with launching a chat widget built into the Facebook app.
Putting Messenger and Facebook into one gives the social networking app more body and strengthens it in the battle against other platforms, such as TikTok. The extension provides more convenience and ease of messaging with friends and family without having to switch between apps.
“Over the next year, we’ll develop more ways to integrate Facebook’s messaging features. Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether that’s in the Messenger app or directly on Facebook,” the company said in the announcement.
In the announcement, Facebook highlighted that it is “alive and thriving” with 2 billion active users each day. “People use Facebook for more than just to connect with friends and family, but also to discover and interact with what matters most to them,” the social network said.
gradual reintegration
Nor is it new that Meta is reintegrating Messenger into Facebook: in 2021, the company decided to replace Messenger-exclusive functionality in the social network app, reducing the distance between services.
At the moment, there is no prediction of when the platforms will finally reunite, nor if the app He stands alone Messenger will cease to exist in the process. For now, it remains to wait for future announcements from Mark Zuckerberg’s company.