Social media and chat messaging are becoming one single being. Both are aiming to give people a more social behavior on both mobile and the web. Facebook is one of which who has both a social media and messaging. With Facebook itself and its Messenger, the social giant is trying to give a bit more to its users.
In an effort to bring Messenger to become its own popular brand alongside its acquired WhatsApp, Facebook brings Uber transportation to Messenger. As an update to the app, Facebook is partnering with the San Francisco-based ridesharing service to allow users in selected cities to call for a ride straight from the Messenger app.
With a simple touch of a button, both Facebook's Messenger and Uber brought transportation easier to people. Both online and in person.
With the update, Messenger users can tap on the "more" menu in a conversation. There, the user can choose "transportation" which will then direct the user to Uber. With the feature, the user can tap the car icon to call a ride.
In the version, Messenger users have the option to send status updates, track Uber ride, deliver receipts in a private conversation, and let their friends in real-time know that the ride is on its way.
In the latest version of Messenger, Facebook users get the option to tap the “more” menu in a conversation, and then choose “transportation.” They can also search directly for Uber, then tap the car icon to call for a ride. Messenger can send status updates, track the Uber ride, deliver receipts in a private conversation, and let friends know (in real-time) that the ride is on its way.
"We're just getting people used to the idea that you can message more than just people on Messenger," said Facebook Product Manager Seth Rosenberg.
On the Uber's side, customers can sign up for an account straight within Messenger. The first ride called within the app will be free to up to $20. Current uber customers can also connect with their existing account and request rides during any conversation they had.
Uber's feature on Messenger is rolling out in the U.S.. More places are added accordingly.
Welcoming New Year Holiday
On holidays, and not to mention the New Year's Eve, having a get-together, parties and others are common things people do to spend their times. Facebook acknowledge the habit and the culture to bring Messenger closer to them.
Beside hitching a ride with Uber, Facebook's strategy to make people use Messenger more is to roll out features for sharing photos.
"Now in Messenger, after you take a picture of a friend or group of friends, if you want to, we'll help you send it immediately," said Facebook. "You won't need to stop the fun to make sure everyone has a copy of the picture. Photo Magic will help you keep your promise to send the pictures you take without forgetting, or worse, leaving someone out. Also, we know there are times when you want to share photos privately, and Photo Magic makes it effortless to do so while still keeping you in complete control."
The feature is called Photo Magic, and it lives inside Messenger. To enable it, users can access it through the app's settings menu. Once a photo is taken,the user will be given the option to "Send" it to any friends that Facebook recognizes in the shot. Facebook uses its face recognition ability to make this possible.
Read: Facebook face recognition and photo-tagging
With face recognition inside Messenger, the twist can make distribution of photos inside the app more fun and essentially easy. After Facebook recognizes the faces inside a photo, it will automatically creates a roup thread to share the picture.
If the user wants to keep the photo private, all he/she needs is to tap "cancel".
Facebook highlights Photo Magic in a Messenger update for users with Apple's iPhones and smartphones running on Google's Android. The feature is off by default, and users can decide whether they want to activate Photo Magic or not, just for their privacy's sake. The feature can also be switched on or off at any time.
Facebook also added a list of new colors and emoji for the holidays. "For iOS, tap on the people's names at the top of a conversation to change your family group thread to a festive red, update your mom's formal first and last name to just 'Mom,' or change the emoji response in your holiday meet up group from the thumbs up to something more timely, like a party hat," wrote Facebook in its post.
"Anyone in the conversation can change the colors, nicknames and emojis as many times as they want, and when you make a change, the people you're talking to will see what updates you selected."
For the New Year's holiday and Christmas, Facebook also put a little snow animation into Messenger. So if a user sends a supported emoji to a friend, like for example a Santa or snow, or anything related to Christmas, snowfall will appear on the screen.
"We're also bringing back the beloved snow globe effect for chat heads on Android. For a limited time this season, your friends' chat heads will appear as winter wonderlands (if you're north of the Equator, of course). Similarly, to celebrate the new year later on, your friends' chat heads will become confetti-filled," wrote Facebook.
Other minor changes include the support for music previews from Deezer, Napster, Rhapsody, KKBOX, and NPR.
More To Compete
Adding more features indeed can make Messenger a bit heavier and complex. Facebook is known to make Messenger the one-stop solution for messaging by bringing some parts of Facebook to make it more resourceful. WhatsApp on the other hand is meant to be a straightforward app for messaging.
Read: WhatsApp And Facebook Messenger: Getting To The Top Of The Food Chain
Messenger itself has more than 700 million users, or half the size of Facebook. The company is relying on new features, like Photo Magic, to make more people active in using the app. This is its way to compete with other compelling services such as Snapchat that has become popular among teenagers and young adults.
According to Facebook, about 9.5 billion pictures are already sent through Messenger each month. The Menlo Park, California, company believes that the volume will be even higher if Photo Magic's automation is successful in making it less of a hassle to pick out the images and make people interested in using it.
As part of the Messenger upgrade, Facebook is also including an option that will allow users to change the colors of their exchanges with different friends, and switch the formal name of a recipient to a nickname.