After a year Facebook acquired mobile messaging service WhatsApp, the social network giant begun testing a new feature in its Facebook for Android app that includes the first major integration of WhatsApp. And for that matter, Facebook is continuing to grow into yet more parts of people's life.
The social network keeps evolving, and that's nothing new. Facebook has long introduced new features and new changes in which users often had no choice but to adopt. And on early April 2015, Facebook is merging its features between Messenger with WhatsApp into 'one better being'.
Messenger and WhatsApp are Facebook's method in giving users the ability to chat. Since having those two working in a separate apps for no apparent good reason and benefit can be a waste of resource and brand, CEO Mark Zuckerberg that once referred Messenger as a new platform, is taking Facebook to mimic WhatsApp.
Facebook for Android app (Version 31.0.0.7.13) is where Facebook includes the first major integration of WhatsApp.
The most immediate change that marks the first major change is a 'Send' button with the familiar WhatsApp icon as a part of the status actions buttons that appear under each status update. The new button appears on the right side (for left-to-right languages) for some users in the most recent version of the Facebook for Android app.
This move appears to be the first step towards connecting the two platforms in order to sustain growth and take control of the messaging market together.
The social networking site also put an arrival of apps within Facebook. Simply hit the three dots found below the area used to type messages in Messenger, and the user will be taken to a list.
Facebook has done thing before when it attempted to bring apps to its main service. Facebook games still exist to a smaller extent than they once did, but Facebook seems to have quietly given up on other types of apps that only exist within itself. When the user clicked the "apps" button on the web version of Facebook, they'll see a list of all mobile apps that they had given Facebook permission to use.
Given that Facebook Messenger aren't specific to the platform, this is a convenient change.
Facebook's Messenger is a standalone app. This means that the app is just like any regular apps, that happen to interact with Facebook's main service. Apps for Messenger aren't also specific to the platform as they're interacting with Messenger only once in a while.
And all of them center around adding outside images to the user's messages, such as GIPHY, Ultratext and Gifs, adding weird effects to your photos and videos, such as Action Movie FX, Pyro! and Effectify, and importing images from camera apps such as Pic Stitch, Noah Camera and Fotor.
Having apps to interact with one another is nothing new. Apps on modern mobile devices are already speaking the same language. However, this is a bold move by Facebook as it can unleash more of its potentials the company is hoping for.
It’s nice that the apps talk to each other, but it’s not exactly revolutionary. Also, in order to view the weird images you’ve been sent, you’ll have to download the corresponding app. So this isn’t yet the bolt of thunder the company was hoping for.
Facebook is just trying to be Facebook. The company wants to expand and came up with all kinds of ideas to see what works. Facebook and WhatsApp work closely together to enhance each other's capabilities. Back in the day it was WhatsApp's co-founder and CEO Jan Koum, who promised users after the acquisition that nothing was going to change and that WhatsApp would keep operating independently.
Despite the two apps still operate independently, this is merely a first step towards connecting the two platforms in order to sustain growth and take control of the messaging market together.