Facebook just released its latest update for Messenger which has made the popular messaging app not only much faster but also simpler to use with a nice new look.
There are many immersive apps out there that we use for video streaming or gaming that take up a lot of space and use a lot of our battery life, but messaging apps are simple lines of text that take seconds to send. In theory, they should be one of the lightest apps out there – so that’s what Messenger has done with project LightSpeed.
By reducing Messenger’s core code by 84 percent – going from 1.7+ million lines of code to 360,000 – simple actions like opening the app, downloads and updates are now much faster for everyone. The vast decrease in the lines of code means that the app itself is much lighter and more responsive.
The best part is that all the features that we know and love are still available for us to use. They’ve simply been rebuilt to fit a more simplified architecture and design.
There is no longer the three base tabs, Chats, People and Discover, instead only Chats and People. As of now, when in a chat, there is still the camera, photos and microphone icons, except on the far left instead of the four dots that would prompt users to location, games, reminders, etc, there is now a plus sign. This gives two options: gifs and location, and an additional third option, polls, for group chats (which are not yet available). This means no more interactive games.
Facebook has clearly removed Discover in the hopes of following the Snapchat layout with its newly designed People tab. Upon switching to People, users will get a full-screen layout of their friends’ public stories.
It almost seems as though Messenger was heading in the direction of somewhere close to WhatsApp; a simple messaging app that lets you connect with your friends. As Akila Kesavasamy, Technical Program Manager at Facebook said, “Facebook’s mission is to bring the world closer together.”
You can click here for more information on the update and here for more details on the engineering aspect of the update.
Have you tried the new Messenger update? If yes, let us know what you think in the comments.