Facebook Messenger: I just discovered a messaging service with a billion active users

I have a confession to make. Until this morning, I had never actually used Facebook Messenger on any mobile device. I know, I know, I’ve been living under a rock and all that. However, all the people I actually talk to are on Telegram and WhatsApp anyway, so why would I want Facebook Messenger?

So what changed? For one thing, Facebook’s announcement that they’ve crossed a billion users tickled my curiosity, for another, they said that 1.2 billion games of basketball were played on the app. 1.2 billion games? On a messaging app? What other cool stuff did Facebook pack into Facebook Messenger?

Here are some of the coolest things I discovered on the app:

Bots

Bots are everywhere now and I’ve had my share of fun with Drumfbot on Telegram, so it was but obvious that I had to give this a shot. A quick Google search revealed quite a few bots, but I was disappointed to find such a limited offering for India. The CNN and Zork bots were particularly useful however, and I did have a tonne of fun with them. I particularly liked how easy it was to search for and add bots, especially when compared to Telegram.

Basketball and other games

Basketball was what eventually got me to install Telegram and the game was a surprising amount of fun. Send a Basketball emoji to someone or a group and you can start a simple Basketball game. It’s simple, smooth and very convenient. It’s also a great way to pass the time. There’s a Chess and Basketball game as well and I’m really looking forward to more such games.

Conversation shortcuts

This is only available on Android, but I can’t tell you how convenient it was to make conversation shortcuts. Press and hold on a conversation, tap on create shortcut and voila! You have a shortcut to that conversation on your home screen.

Gifs, memes and stickers

Again, these are features already available on other chat apps, but I like how much simpler the integration is. Adding sticker packs, emojis, etc. is quite easy and not as heavy on the phone as I expected. Telegram requires you to go online to find sticker packs, which is far less convenient.

Transferring files

File sharing has always been a pain on mobile devices and having to rely on cloud services and email was always a bit cumbersome. Telegram fixed this issue by allowing you to share files from within the app and Facebook Messenger also seems to have allowed the same.

Profile stickers

Another surprisingly useful feature this. It simplifies the sharing of contact information as a new contact is now just a scan away. It’s not that sharing contacts was overly complicated earlier, it’s just that little bit easier on Facebook Messenger.

Sign your images

This one seems so obvious in hind-sight, but it’s surprising that very few apps let you actually doodle on images before you send them. Facebook Messenger will let you add text to an image and will also let you doodle on the screen. As far as image editing goes, Telegram is still better, but it doesn’t let you doodle on your images!

Simply add an image from gallery (using the Messenger Keyboard) and hit ‘Edit’ before you share the image.

Multiple accounts

Now this feature isn’t a personal favourite, but I know a few people who swear by this feature. The exact process varies slightly by OS, but you can load up multiple accounts and simply switch from the settings, where you hit ‘Me’ and ‘Switch Account’ to, well, switch accounts.

Custom conversations

This one can be extremely useful if you’re in the habit of muddling up conversations. Messenger lets you change the nickname of the person you’re talking to and the colour of the conversation bubbles. It will also let you add an emoji to a certain conversation header if you feel like it. Isn’t it more convenient to label a conversation with your mom as ‘Mom’ rather than her actual profile name?

All this I discovered on my first day with the app and a bit of Googling and I think I understand why this app is so popular. I still don’t know if I’ll switch over to the app though. With WhatsApp, Telegram, Hangouts, Messages (on iOS) and Slack, I’m already juggling between too many chat apps.

I’ve only spent a day with Facebook Messenger so I can’t comment on battery drain issues and the like, but I’m impressed, and I’ve only scratched the surface. It’s a powerful, slick app that deserves more than the passing glance I’ve given it so far. It may really be the future of chat as we know it.