Meta conquers the instant messaging industry with WhatsApp in acquired back in 2014. But that doesn't mean it's forgetting its Messenger app.
Messenger, which started its life as Facebook Chat in 2008, doesn't follow WhatsApp's simple and straightforward approach. Instead, Messenger is a more complex messaging app, packed with lots of features. And this time, Meta is updating it to add even more features.
Alongside the announcements of features rolling out to Instagram, Meta has added Messenger with features, like Split Payments.
What this feature does, is allowing users to split a bill amount among every person in a group.
With a personalized message, users can confirm the payment details and send the request.
With the feature, users can easily add payment details to send and receive money, and confirm payment details and requests.
To use this Split Payments feature, users can tap on the '+' icon in a group chat and select the payments tab.
Initially, the feature has been released to all Messenger users on both iOS and Android that are based in the U.S..
Meta in introducing Split Payments is another way for it to keep up and compete with other payment apps which have provided similar feature.
Messenger which has Meta (formerly Facebook) on its back, do have an advantage in terms of resources and user count.
Split Payments is built by utilizing Facebook Pay, which was first launched in November 2019, as a way to establish a payment system that extends across the company’s apps for not just person-to-person payments, but for other things like donations and e-commerce.
Besides the Split Payments feature, Meta is also giving Messenger an updated voice message recording control.
This updated control brings the ability to pause, preview, delete, or continue recording a voice message before sending it.
This feature is very similar to the one on WhatsApp.
Not only that, as Messenger is also increasing the duration of voice messages from 1 minute to up to 30 minutes.
A huge bump in duration should make this feature a lot useful.
And last but not least, Messenger is also introducing Disappearing Messages with Vanish Mode.
According to the announcement, with Vanish Mode, users messages will disappear after they're seen.
"And if you can’t find the right words, you can also send disappearing memes, GIFs, stickers or reactions," explained Meta.
To turn on this Vanish mode, all users have to do, is open an existing chat thread on their mobile device and swipe up. When they're done, they can swipe up again to return to their regular chat.
It’s important to note that all messages on Messenger are end-to-end encrypted, including with this feature.
