Facebook is updating FB Messenger to make it suck less

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Call it the distraction-free update. The newest version of Facebook Messenger still features payments, bots, and games. However, those features have mostly been pushed to the background as the app refocuses on the basics.

In Messenger 4, which is rolling out to users now, Facebook is cutting the number of tabs in the app from nine to three. These include the Chats, People, and Discover tab. The first, naturally, is where you’ll continue to have your conversations with family and friends using text, pictures, and videos.

Under People, you’ll find Stories about your contacts and see who’s online. The Discover tab, meanwhile, is a hodgepodge of sorts. From here, you can find shopping deals, instant games, news, and more.

The app also includes a new feature to personalize your conversations further. With color gradients, you can use multiple colors to customize your chat bubbles. Each can be changed at any time.

What Facebook has to say about Messenger

Of the new app version, Facebook’s Stan Chudnovsky explains:

We’ve built a lot of capabilities over the years, but [Messenger] is not as simple as the app was when we first began our journey.

Chudnovsky goes on to say the company had a decision to make – either continue bloating the experience with new features and clutter, or start building a better foundation that would enable the company to balance simplicity and “powerful features” on top of something new and true to its roots.

Check out the video below to see all the changes Facebook is rolling out to FB Messenger

No doubt, these changes are a step in the right direction. Facebook Messenger has become bloated over the years with too many features. Hopefully, more updates will follow.

Facebook says Messenger 4 is being rolled out globally in the coming weeks through various phases.

What do you think of these changes? Let us know below. 

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