Facebook brings back SMS to Messenger for Android

After Facebook recently began obstructing Android users from using the messaging feature in the mobile version of the site, the company is now trying to incentivize them to make the switch to the standalone Facebook Messenger by adding features to it instead of trolling them.

Earlier today Facebook announced that Android users will once again be able to use Messenger for both SMS and Facebook chat. This functionality was available on the app, but was removed back in 2012.

SMS on Messenger supports standard text, images, videos, and audio, but also rich content such as stickers, emojis, and location sharing. If you want to send GIFs, send money, make voice & video calls, and request transportation, however, you'll have to use Messenger instead.

Facebook promises that Messenger doesn't send, upload or store any of your conversations on its servers, and that all messages are sent and received via standard SMS protocol and not cellular data. Facebook conversations will be displayed in blue text bubbles, while SMS conversations will use purple for the sake of differentiation.

The new feature is, of course, optional and can be activated by opening Messenger, tapping on Settings, selecting “SMS” from the list and then turning it on as a “Default SMS app”. The feature is currently available to Android users only.