Facebook Messenger is considered one of the most complex messaging apps out there in the market. And yet Facebook continues to pack it with more features.
This time, the social media giant is updating the messaging app to give it a screen sharing feature for users on iOS and Android.
With the feature, users can share their screen with other people in a one-on-one or a group video call with up to 8 participants, and up to 16 people in Rooms.
On the announcement, Facebook said that:
Screen sharing essentially allows users to share a live view of their screen, so they can share virtually anything together.
"Whether you want to share memories from your camera roll, shop together online, co-browse social media, and more — screen sharing makes it easy to stay connected and close with your loved ones, even when you’re physically apart," continued Facebook.
And in addition to screen sharing on iOS and Android, Facebook is also releasing the feature to Messenger Rooms, with up to 16 people on web and desktop.
"We will soon add the ability to control who can share their screen in Rooms and expand the number of people you can share your screen with up to 50 within Messenger Rooms. With these new controls, Room creators will be able to determine whether to limit the ability to screen share to just themselves or make the feature available to all participants when creating a room and during the call," Facebook said.
Screen sharing was previously available only on the desktop version of Facebook Messenger.
And this update marks the first time that screen sharing is included as an option on Messenger mobile apps and Messenger Rooms.
To start a screen share on Facebook Messenger, users should:
- Start a video call in the Messenger app by selecting one or more contacts and tapping on the camera icon.
- Swipe up on the toolbar at the bottom during the call, to bring up an expanded menu.
- From the expanded menu, tap 'Share your screen'.
With the screen sharing feature, Facebook aims to make Messenger capable of competing with other platforms like Zoom and Google Meet.
Previously, Facebook has been steadily upgrading Messenger’s capabilities ever since the global 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic.
This includes Facebook in launching the first standalone Messenger app for desktop back in April for Windows and macOS users. With the standalone app, users can benefit from unlimited and free video calls, as well as some others.
Then there was an update that allows page owners to toggle back and forth between personal messages and customer messages. This way, page admins can stay on top of messages without having to use separate apps.