Last Updated: August 09, 2023, 16:10 IST
Palo Alto, California, USA
The Messenger app on Android got this feature back in 2016
The messaging app will become a chat app from next month when its important feature loses support.
Facebook Messenger is still a popular app among users but the platform will be losing one of its features in September. Not many of you might know this but the Messenger app allowed people to send SMS messages through the cell network on Android phones, but that option will be discontinued from next month.
Messenger has shared the update through its support page recently. The SMS support will end on September 28, the post adds.
The feature will be removed through an app update for Messenger users on Android. Having the SMS feature made it popular among many but now you will have to revert back to using the traditional SMS apps on Android to send messages through the cellular network.
Meta claims that Android users will have to start using the default Google Messages app for SMS after this date next month. Messenger got SMS support back in 2016 for the Android app which was seen as a possible alternative to Apple’s iMessage and Google’s Messages service. But it was always going to be a tough challenge to compete with traditional messaging services.
The changes with the Messenger app is also being done as Meta is taking the Inbox feature back to the main Facebook app. The company claims that over 140 billion messages are sent across its messaging apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram every day. With messages going away from Messenger, it seems the app is only useful for chatting with your Facebook friends.
Meta continues to rejig the platforms to streamline its usage and focus on the popular apps like WhatsApp and Instagram that have been growing at a brisk pace. The messaging app gets new features at regular intervals, and you will notice the same with Instagram as well.
