Tag: Facebook Messenger

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Enable Facebook Messenger Dark Mode With Just An Emoticon

You can finally make your Facebook Messenger app on your Android or iOS phone as dark as night with just a little trick which was introduced by Facebook recently. The popular dark mode has been an option highly requested by many users, but nobody saw or heard about it rolling out. Last year in May, news of Messenger getting this mode surfaced, then in September, some users got to test it. The dark theme was only accessible by getting root access, which meant not many people actually bothered to do it.

Dark Mode on Facebook Messenger – ?

But now, to activate Facebook Messenger Dark Theme, users only need to use an emoticon in their chat when talking to a person. It’s a crescent moon (this one ?) and after exiting the app and entering again, long press on the moon emoji a popup will notify you that you can toggle this mode. Some users double tapped the moon to make this option work.

The app’s dark mode is still being tested, and it’s in progress, so some things might not be completely transformed into dark colors, but it seems to be working just fine.

A redesigned UI, integrating Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram and encrypting the messaging services will be a good step towards keeping the users interested in these apps.

According to XDA Developers, this “easter egg trick works — there are legitimate strings present inside the APK, and several of our own team members who use Facebook Messenger have managed to activate dark mode through the emoji.” This method also works on Android and iOS.

One person wrote that on iOS, the latest Messenger version, the dark mode only got activated after sending the moon emoji, leaving the app and going to the app’s settings to toggle Dark Mode on.

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WhatsApp and Instagram Unification Under Facebook Messenger To Cause Serious Privacy Issues

WhatsApp is undoubtedly the best and the most popular instant messaging app for both Android and iOS. On the other hand, Instagram surpassed Facebook and became the most used social network. However, Facebook owns both WhatsApp and Instagram, and now, reportedly, the Zuckerberg’s company wants to unify WhatsApp and Instagram under Facebook Messenger.

While the idea to create a unified instant messaging app by merging WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger is not surprising since Facebook owns all of the before-mentioned apps, that might cause serious privacy issues for users. The problems might occur from the struggle to implement end-to-end encryption to the resulting app which would contain three different applications.

Among the three apps mentioned above, only WhatsApp enjoys end-to-end encryption, so, both Instagram and Facebook Messenger do not encrypt users’ messages. “Will the new platform impose default end-to-end encryption for all users regardless of which service they are actually using?” asked Davey Winder of the Forbes.

WhatsApp and Instagram Unification Under Facebook Messenger To Cause Serious Privacy Issues for Users

To unify WhatsApp and Instagram under Facebook Messenger and add end-to-end encryption to the resulting platform “is harder to achieve, at least in a way that could be thought of as being secure, than it sounds. Or at least it will be unless the plan is to completely re-engineer all three messaging services from the ground up,” Winder said on Forbes.

Now, more cybersecurity experts complained about the Zuckerberg’s decision to unite WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger into one big instant messaging platform. “Architecting early is easier than bolting features on artificially and messily later. At the very least, Mr. Zuckerberg should take advantage of the situation by leaning forward with a plan for privacy and be a hero instead of later suffering the consequences,” said Sam Curry, the chief security officer at Cybereason.

“This move [WhatsApp and Instagram unification under Facebook Messenger] could potentially be good or bad for security/privacy. But given recent history and financial motivations of Facebook, I wouldn’t bet my lunch money on good,” stated Matthew Green, a highly-respected cryptographer, on Twitter.

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Facebook Messenger Tests Dark Mode In Specific Markets

Facebook Messenger started the public dark mode testing campaign on several devices, in specific markets, following a tease rolled out in September 2018, as reported by MobileSyrup. The frequent social media app tipster Jane Manchun Wong was the first to spot that Facebook launched its Messenger dark mode testing campaign on some smartphones, but only in certain markets.

“Facebook Messenger, seemingly due to prolonged external nagging, has started public testing Dark Mode in certain countries. They have put up a fair warning that Dark Mode isn’t everywhere yet so don’t complain when some UI burns your eyes off,” reported Jane Manchun Wong on her Twitter page.

That comes after the same Jane Manchun Wong reported on Twitter in November that “Facebook Messenger Dark Mode is now ready to roll out.”

Facebook Messenger Tests Dark Mode In Specific Markets

It is not yet known where the Facebook Messenger dark mode is currently available for testing and on which smartphones it would be possible to probe the new feature. However, you can check out if the new dark mode in Facebook Messenger is available to you by accessing the “Me” section in your Facebook Messenger app. While in there, you should see the Dark Mode option.

“We’re conducting a small test of the dark mode in a handful of markets. We don’t have anything further to share at this time,” said a Facebook Messenger representative for CNET, via email.

It seems that Facebook is going to update its Messenger application with a whole bunch of new features in the near future. This Facebook Messenger dark mode is just one of them. Also, Facebook is now working to implement an “unsend” function in its instant messaging application. The “unsend” feature is also under testing, for the time being. Both functions might roll out for everybody together, but we have no official information on that.

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Facebook Messenger Adds Boomerangs, Portrait Mode, And Augmented Reality Stickers

Facebook Messenger keeps on updating with new features frequently. The popular messaging application has added a multitude of new functions this year. However, the new Facebook Messenger update combines Boomerangs, portrait mode, and augmented reality stickers into one significant update. These new features complement some of those that have already arrived throughout the year to the Facebook Messenger.

Boomerangs And Portrait Mode Reached Facebook Messenger

Boomerangs effect has already reached Facebook, WhatsApp, and also Instagram. Therefore, it seemed that it was only a matter of time before Facebook Messenger would also introduce it. The way the boomerangs work on Facebook Messenger is similar to that on Instagram.

The portrait mode is something indispensable for many users, so it’s a feature that can be very much liked by Facebook Messenger users. Although, at the moment not much detail has been offered on how this feature would come into Facebook Messenger.

Facebook Messenger Adds Augmented Reality Stickers

The one that is possibly the star function in this Facebook Messenger update is the implementation of augmented reality stickers. In this feature, the stickers that come to the app come to life thanks to augmented reality. You’ll be able to recognize them because they have a camera icon next to them, inside the chat window. You are not going to have problems when it comes to identifying them.

Although, those augmented reality stickers that are 3D-animated seem to work better, and it appears that there are still a few aspects that Facebook Messenger has to improve or polish within this new feature.

Undoubtedly, Facebook Messenger received a significant update. The application is usually a bit slow in delivering its new updates, so you probably don’t have access to these features yet. Possibly, the new features will roll out for every Facebook Messenger users this week.

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Facebook Messenger To Implement “Unsend Message” Feature To Allow Users Delete Messages

Facebook Messenger will soon introduce a feature, “Unsend Message,” that will allow users delete messages up to 10 minutes after they send them. This new post message deletion feature had been announced earlier in April when Facebook’s CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was discovered deleting messages on the Facebook Messenger instant messaging platform.

So, soon, you will be able to do the same as the CEO of Facebook. You will be able to delete messages that you’ve already sent on Messenger, as long as you do not wait more than 10 minutes to do so.

Some information regarding the new feature came up two days ago along with the release notes of the most recent Facebook Messenger update for iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, as reported by the Business Insider news portal. More recently, if you open the App Store application on your iPhone or iPad, you will find the same announcement in the Facebook Messenger update that got published on Wednesday.

Facebook Messenger to adopt a new feature, “Unsend Message,” to allow users delete messages within 10 minutes after sending them

The iOS Facebook Messenger update release note reads that a new feature would permit users to “delete a message sent from a thread. If you accidentally send the wrong picture or incorrect information or if you write in the wrong conversation, you can easily correct your message by deleting it within 10 minutes after sending it.”

That’s excellent news, whatsoever, especially for those many people who send tons of messages one after another. In fact, it is a common thing, under some circumstances, to send messages to the wrong contact when in a hurry or whatever.

It remains to be seen when this new Facebook Messenger “Unsend Message” function would be implemented for all Facebook’s instant messaging app’s users. On the other hand, some are concerned about this feature, arguing that some malevolent people could use it to send threatening or abusive messages to potential victims and then delete them to come out clean. Most probably, the sent messages would be stocked on Facebook’s servers, however.

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