There is soon to be a brand new look for the popular Facebook Messenger. No worries though, as it is not getting rid of Messenger Day. There will rather be an implementation of several smaller changes including the home screen content organization, which is going to make navigation quicker and easier. The update seeks to emphasize messaging, while maintaining that is can also be a hub for connections with all kinds, whether friends or colleagues.
In this update, you will see new tabs at the top of the main screen. These will allow you to easily move between your contacts, groups and messages. You might also see a red dot on different sections in which case, it indicates new activity where ever they are.
Meant to accentuate the many different ways that people use Messenger to communicate, there are many ways to communicate, rather than just simply messaging. Some of the changes include the tab at the top of the messenger list that shows you who is active. The green dot next to their screen name highlights this.
Online users will have their very own section that is vertically scrollable, instead of horizontally scrollable, as it was before. It almost encourages you to start a conversation through the app having just seen their availability.
Games gets its very own button on the bar as a new focus, having only recently become available worldwide as recently as this month. Having messages focused into one area of the home screen helps to make this possible, giving users the feel of a brand new app.
Even though Facebook Messenger has been known to compete with the Snapchat platform, the new change also means a smaller camera button. Prior to this most recent change, the camera button was much bigger than any others surrounding it. A downfall of this was that it was often accidentally pressed. The update now finds the camera button scaled back to normal size and lined up with neighboring buttons quite well.
The bottom bar, after the update, now have specialized tabs specifically for Calls, Camera, Home, People and Games. They are labeled on iOS as well, updating the old version that simply listed icons.
The features that seem to make the most sense in this new update are video and voice calls as well as the ability to send money. Others, for some users, seem to be a reach.
