Meta, Facebook's parent company, is adding the Calls tab to the Facebook Messenger app. It is available on Android and iOS.
The addition of the new feature follows WhatsApp lead, which makes audio and video calls with friends and family a lot easier for Messenger users.
Inclusion of Calls Tab is a Subtle But Useful Change
The Messenger app has become a very useful way to make free voice and video calls. With the design modification, the call button is now easier to find.
With Meta adding a dedicated tab for audio and video calls to the function bar at the bottom of the app, it will be easier for users to find the said functions.
The new tab will appear alongside "Chats", "Stories" and "People", and open up to a list of the user's contacts, along with separate buttons for voice and video calls, said Engadget.
While it is just a subtle change, this is likely a move to make Messenger seem more like a messaging and calling app in the style of Whatsapp.
Before the modification was made, users had to open up a separate chat thread with a friend in order to call them.
The new feature will now allow users to dial friends directly. Likewise, this may also serve as an introduction to those who are not familiar with Messenger's calling features.
Since early 2020, audio and video calling on Messenger has increased by 40 percent, according to Meta.
Earlier this year, the company expanded the features available to its encrypted messaging by adding reactions, stickers, message-specific replies and forwarding.
According to Engadget, Meta's plan is to eventually make end-to-end encryption the default for Facebook and Instagram in 2023. A number of AR effects was also added to its video calls, allowing users to experiment with filters, masks and animations.
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Will There be a Competition Between Messenger and WhatsApp?
While it seems that Facebook is declining in popularity, some people continue to use the platform, particularly the Messenger app.
Now that the call tab making audio and video calls is quickly accessible in Messenger, it will be interesting to see the increased competition between Messenger and WhatsApp.
According to Digital Trends, Messenger's Calls tab is the latest in a line of other products created by Meta's Remote Presence team. Other creations of the team include Watch Together and AR Effects. These inventions are meant to foster deeper connections between people and their communities.
Messenger is becoming more like WhatsApp in a sense that users will be able to call their friends and family with a single push of a button.
WhatsApp was born out of a need for some users to call friends and relatives in other countries without the hassle of long-distance charges that would be levied by their mobile service providers if such calls were conducted on the regular Phone app. This is under the condition that they pay a small annual fee for the privilege, as per Digital Trends report.
But since Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014, it is no longer needed to pay an annual fee, which meant they could call anyone in the world at no extra cost.
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