Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ:FB) Messenger app has become simpler following the doing away with the Discover and Chatbots tabs. The company had cluttered the app with several unwanted features such as its ill-fated chatbot platform and games into the private messaging app.
Facebook makes changes to Messenger App
The company announced the change in August 2019, and the switchover is expected to begin as of next week. The new design of Messenger will focus solely on the main purpose of Chatting with family and your friends. Following an extensive redesign of Messenger announced in 2018, the company promised that it will make the app less cluttered and simpler and revert to something like its original concept when it launched in 2011. Although at the time, users were opposed to downloading another app.
After a redesign of doing everything philosophy, the app is being streamlined under the leadership of Stan Chudnovsky, who is a former head of product and Messenger. But of the making, the app simpler is removing all business-focused components of the app that were not serving users. These are elements that have been there and serving to promote the app as some form of text-based user service hub.
Changes to enhance communication with friends
The changes will help in encouraging users to spend more time chatting with friends and family rather than exploring chatbots for shopping and connecting with businesses as well as playing games. As a result, this will help Facebook in earning more money from Messenger because it now shows Stories ads.
Social media director Jeff Higgins provided the update, which shows the new app without the Discover tab. Users can switch to Chat and People tabs as well as the People sub-tabs for Active and Stories. Equally, the Transportation and Instant Games options are missing from the utility tray of the chat composer. Also, the app’s M Suggestions do not recommend the Transportation feature.
Through the new design, the company is promoting the “People” section where users can see friends who recently updated their Facebook stories.
