The social giant Facebook is improving the quality of pictures and videos users can send on Messenger. Most notably, the company adds support for 360 photos and sharing videos in 720 pixels.
Facebook itself has supported 360-degree photos and videos, so it's no surprise that the social giant is finally bringing the feature to Messenger.
But the difference is that in Messenger, users need to set their phone camera to panorama and snap a photo or capture a 360 degree photo using a 360 photo app or camera. Then share it in Messenger as they would normally do.
What this means, 360 degrees photos can’t be captured right from within the app. Users need to capture these photos outside of Messenger, which is certainly inconvenient.
"From there, we’ll convert it to an immersive, envy-inducing photo that your friends and loved ones can experience on mobile by tapping and dragging the photo or by moving their phone, and on Messenger.com by clicking and dragging."
Messenger puts a little compass icon on the right-hand side of a 360 photo, and videos can be identifiable with a HD or SD marker.
Users can also share higher-resolution footage as long as it has been captured in advance, either from the camera or from the News Feed.
These updates go in line with previous improvements Facebook has been introducing to Messenger. For example, Messenger has started supporting 4K photo sharing in November 2017. The photos are compressed a bit to make them smaller in size, but the results aren't that noticeable.
The two are arguably the features that Messenger should have had already. But Facebook is supposed to clean up its app, just like what Messenger’s leader, David Marcus, admitted.
He said that the app had become too cluttered, and said that the company would “invest in massively simplifying and streamlining” the app.
360 degree photos in Messenger are available globally for users using iOS and Android. HD quality videos however, are initially available for users in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and the U.S.