In a bid to bring its core messaging app to a wider audience Facebook has now opened up Messenger so that it can now be used even by those who don’t possess a Facebook account. Users can sign up to use the service with just a first name, last name, and phone number, starting today in the US, Canada, Peru, and Venezuela before the feature comes elsewhere. And they can use all the Messenger features that their friends with a Facebook account have, including photos, videos, group chats, voice and video calling, and stickers.
But for those who already have Facebook accounts, the company stresses that there are many benefits to using their Facebook credentials when signing up for Messenger. People can easily message with their Facebook friends and contacts, access their Facebook messages and take advantage of multi-device messaging across mobile devices, the web and tablets.
Facebook elevated Messenger from a communication app to full-fledged platform a few months back. A week after that, at Facebook’s F8 developers conference, over 40 apps for Messenger were announced. In April this year, Messenger added video calls and more recently introduced its first game. It is clear that Facebook wants to position Messenger as the default chat app for most people on earth.
But that raises the inevitable question of what Facebook plans to do with its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, with its 800 million loyal users. It should be noted that Messenger, comparatively, has 600,000,000 users as of March this year. According to Facebook, the company plans to keep WhatsApp as what it is, a barebones and quick messaging app, while positing Messenger as a full-fledged app with a wide suite of functions.
Source: Facebook
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