HIGHLIGHTS

• Facebook will now let users make voice and video calls from the main app.
• The voice and video calling features were earlier moved to the Messenger app.
• Users in countries like the United States can now make video and voice calls directly from the main Facebook app.

Facebook will now let users make voice and video calls from the main app. The voice and video calling features were earlier moved to the Messenger app. Earlier, to make video and voice calls on Facebook, users had to exit the main app and move to the Messenger app. However, now Facebook had brought back the feature to its main app. Users in countries like the United States can now make video and voice calls directly from the main Facebook app.

As per a Bloomberg report, Facebook has started testing the video and voice calling features on its main app. Facebook’s move will make eliminate the need to switch between Facebook app and Messenger to use the voice and video calling feature. Till 2014, Facebook and Messenger used to be a single app. However, in 2014, Facebook introduced a separate app and moved calling, video calling and messaging features to Messenger. Users were forced to download a separate Messenger app in order to chat with their Facebook friends.

The report states that Facebook is planning to add a limited version of Messenger to the main Facebook app. It is testing out ways to reduce the need to switch to Messenger for interacting with Facebook friends.

Facebook director of Product Management at Messenger told Bloomberg that Facebook will consider Messenger as a service now rather than a standalone app.”You’re going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time,” Hayes told Bloomberg.

Apart from this, Facebook is also planning to combined messaging services between Messenger and WhatsApp. Previously, Facebook rolled out combined messaging between Facebook and Instagram. Announcing the feature, Instagram head Adam Mosseri had said, “People are communicating in private spaces now more than ever. More than a billion people already use Messenger as a place to share, hang out and express themselves with family and friends. That’s why we’re connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram so you have access to the best messaging experience, no matter which app you use. People on Instagram can decide whether to update immediately to this new experience.”