Facebook is purging away the excesses of its messaging app “Facebook Messenger” to give users a smoother, better and more wholesome social experience.
The previous versions of the app have been nothing more than a gargantuan mess with its accommodation of nine tabs. It is not the issue that the nine tabs are excessive rather it is the case of their overlapping functions. The tabs rather than serving a different function from one other merely show different lists of your Facebook contacts.
A statement by Stan Chudnovsky who is Facebook’s VP of Messenger highlighted the company’s journey on how the messenger came to be.
“We built a lot of capabilities over the years, but it’s not as simple as the app was at the beginning of our journey.”
The latest version which has begun to roll out to users brings a more simplified and concise design to the app with just three tabs. This is a huge step away from the monstrous nine tabs its preceding version featured.
The three tabs will basically feature Chats, people and discover is similar to Snapchat’s design.
The redesign does not mean that Facebook would be taking away any of its features. Stories which has over 300 million monthly users still features on the app with the only real change being the relocation of the camera to the top of the app.
Aside from the more obvious trim in tabs, the new version gives users the ability to personalize and make a degree of cosmetic changes, one of which is the ability to choose chat bubble color and gradient, and the option to switch to dark mode.
Chudnovsky who is aware of users dislike for big changes played it safe by calling the app’s redesign “a new foundational element.” It is in this vein of caution that the update is being rolled out slowly to users.
