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This article was published on August 24, 2021

Facebook is bringing calling back to the main app

What goes around comes around


Facebook is bringing calling back to the main app Image by: Chase Chappell/Unsplash

Remember the time when Facebook forced us to download Messenger to chat with friends and make calls? Now, the company wants to bring video and voice calling back to the main app.

According to a report from Bloomberg, starting this week, some users will be able to make voice and video calls directly from the app. While currently, this is just a test, the company said this feature will “reduce the need to jump back and forth between Facebook’s main app and its Messenger service.” Tables have turned.

In 2014, Facebook first started the push towards Messenger by discontinuing the chat feature in the main app. Since then, the chat app has gained more than 1.3 billion active monthly users.

With the rise of platforms such as TikTok, along with Instagram’s tremendous growth, time spent on the blue app has reduced over the years. To lure people into spending more time, the company has experimented by including music videos, audio products, and even Instagram’s short video product Reels in the main app.

This test also points towards the company’s mega vision of integrating all of its apps and services. Last year, it started merging Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger. Plus, it has been planning to bring WhatsApp into the integration play. The company might not stop till we can’t tell Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apart.

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