If you want to make a normal voice call using carrier minutes, you can select your friend's phone number in the menu instead. And of course, your carrier minutes will not be used, but normal data charges will apply. It's really simple, and the feature works like a charm. To make a call, just tap your phone's menu button in any chat and choose Free Call. Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNETĪnother star feature of Messenger is the free VoIP calls available for users in select countries, including the US and Canada. Otherwise, from the Notifications menu, you can opt out of the Chat Heads feature altogether, and keep your conversations contained only within the Facebook Messenger app.Ĭhat Heads move your conversations out Messenger, so you can chat while you do other things on your phone. It's a convenience that Facebook junkies will, no doubt, appreciate.Īnd if you're not into those little Chat Heads looming as you use your device, you can easily swipe them to the bottom of the screen to get rid of them. From this overlay, you can perform all of your typical chat functions, then simply close it and return to what you were previously doing. When you tap a Chat Head, it opens up a slick little chat interface that lays right on top of the currently active window. So, whether you're looking through an Instagram feed or reading a Web site in Chrome, the small, circular Chat Heads will pop up as messages come in. The feature lets you quickly access your conversations no matter where you happen to be in the Android OS. We are not fans of spamming our friends into installing apps, so we really don't like this feature.Ī big part of Messenger is Chat Heads, which was first introduced with Facebook Home. If you chat with someone who does not also use the Messenger app, you'll get these annoying pop up messages that tell you to invite your to install the app. Though we really like the design and features of the app, it's not perfect. You can add more people at any time, give the conversation a name, or set a group photo from the menu on the conversation page. That will send one message two or more people at once, just like on Facebook's Web site. From the Recent conversations screen, you can tap the blue bar at the bottom to start a new group chat. When you're done, you'll see a dedicated button that lets you share your creation back to Messenger.Īnother handy feature of Messenger is group chatting. If you have any of the eligible apps installed, you can tap it to open it and create something to share. Next to the options to share stickers and photos in the app, there are three dots that open a "more" menu that shows a list of the apps that can share to Messenger, which include ESPN, Imgur, Giphy and The Weather Channel. When you or your friend has location sharing on, you can tap and hold any message, sticker, or photo and select "View details" to see, on a map, from where the message was sent.įacebook recently added a feature that lets you share content, like GIFs and videos, from other apps into chats in Messenger. If the dot is gray, that means location sharing is turned off. If it's blue, that means your friend can see the city and neighborhood where you are. You can choose to share your location with your friends in a chat by tapping the small dot next to the text field. You can download more free sticker packs (themed collections) without leaving the app, which is nice. One tip we picked up while playing around with the app is once an animated sticker stops playing, just tap it to start it again. As silly as they are, we really like the stickers, especially the animated Pusheen the Cat choices. Stickers are free images of smiley faces, cats, and even branded characters from Disney and more, which you can add to your conversations. When you send a photo, you can either snap a new picture, choose an existing on from your phone, or search the Web for an image. In the text field, where you type your message, there are options to send a photo, or add a sticker (more about those below). If your Recent page already has conversations that you started in another app or on the Web site, you can tap on anyone's name to continue chatting.Įach conversation has a clean, simple design, similar to what you'll see on Messenger for Windows Phone and iOS. Just start typing a friend's name and the app will search ahead to find people who match. It lets you send messages to one or more recipients, as well as reply with text, photo attachments (from the Web or from your mobile device), stickers (small still or animated images) or voice recordings.įrom the Recent screen, you can tap the plus sign at the bottom to start a new chat, where you can send messages, photos, and stickers. For anyone who's chatted using Facebook in a desktop browser, the Facebook Messenger mobile app should also feel completely familiar.
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