LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Facebook Messenger is reportedly set to discontinue sending SMS texts over a cellular network.
The messaging service owned by Meta made SMS integration available for Android smartphones in 2016, enabling users to access Facebook chats and text messages in the same app.
Currently, the program displays SMS text messages in purple and Messenger talks in blue.
After months of rumors that the message inbox functionality would be restored to the Facebook app, this integration will shortly be discontinued.
On 28 September, Meta will stop supporting SMS texts in the Messenger app for Android, according to a Facebook Messenger support website.
The business has stated that when customers update the app, the modification will show up. Users won’t be able to send and receive SMS messages via cellular networks using Messenger anymore.
According to the information provided by the firm, instead, they may use the phone’s built-in messaging software to do so.
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Meta also says that SMS texts will automatically be kept in the Google Texts app if users don’t select their new default messaging app.
The software displays Facebook Messenger discussions in blue while the cellular SMS is displayed in purple.
Before 28 September, users can manually switch to another application such as Google Messages or the SMS software offered by their smartphone manufacturer (such as Samsung’s).
Facebook added SMS support to Messenger in 2016 to compete with mobile messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage and Google Android Messages.
Users who made Facebook Messenger their default app might see SMS messages in the app along with those from their Facebook friends.
After Meta announced that the message inbox functionality will be returning to the Facebook app, the new support manual was released.
Users could exchange material through Facebook conversations without having to go to the Messenger app when the capability was first tested by the platform in March.
At the time, Meta claimed that daily messaging app traffic across its platform was over 140 billion messages.