Android users can now do all their texting from Facebook Messenger
Tired of switching back and forth between Facebook Messenger and SMS on your Android?
On Tuesday, Facebook announced that the Messenger app now supports SMS messaging. That means Android users can set the app as their default texting client.
For those who want to opt in, the update is now available on Messenger's Android app. (It doesn't appear Facebook has any plans to bring it to its iOS app.)
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Once you enable the feature via the "default SMS app" option in Messenger's settings, you'll be able to view your text messages in Messenger alongside your Facebook chats. It will also support some -- but not all -- of Facebook's "rich content," including stickers, emoji, audio, photos and location information. Other Messenger features, like bots, GIFs, payments and third-party apps, will continue to be limited to Facebook messages.
Facebook will distinguish between Facebook messages and SMS with different colors: Facebook's will be blue while SMS will be purple. You'll also see the Messenger icon underneath the photo of friends who use Messenger.
Facebook first added SMS support to Messenger's Android app back in 2012, but later pulled the feature. Now, with an increasing emphasis on Messenger, the social network is likely hoping to ramp up engagement with the app even more. But it may not be an easy sell to everyone.
Messenger has proved controversial since the company began requiring its users to download it separately from the main Facebook app, despite making many improvements to Messenger. Last week, it began targeting the remaining Messenger holdouts by removing messaging from the Facebook mobile web app, a move that angered many users.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, the company emphasized that using the app as a new default SMS client was optional and that user privacy will be protected.
"SMS in Messenger doesn't send, upload or store your conversations on Facebook servers. Using this feature is your choice; you can easily switch to a different app as your primary SMS app from your device settings, or directly from the app that you want to make your primary SMS app."
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Topics Facebook Social Media
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
