Facebook has been aiming to integrate communication between its social media app suite for a while now, starting last September, when it enabled both Messenger and Instagram users to send direct messages, search for accounts, and place calls—all without ever leaving their preferred respective platform.
It seems the tech giant is taking another step to consolidate communication between its various apps, this time placing its focus on Facebook and Messenger.
According to a report from Fox Business, the company is planning to enable both voice and video calling on its main Facebook app soon, so that users will be able to directly call a friend without having to bother switching between apps.
The new feature is already being tested out on a select number of users, the report claims. It isn't clear on what basis these individuals are being chosen to participate in the test trial, but it's clear Facebook is serious about the new addition.
Before Messenger came along six years ago in 2014, calling (and chatting) from the Facebook app didn't use to be a "new feature"—it was a natural function of the original app. As it grew in popularity, however, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he believed it best to separate the two apps, focusing each on its own distinct task: Facebook for displaying a news feed, and Messenger for chatting and calling.
Zuckerberg said he believed this would be a much more streamlined experienced for users who are participating in a number of chat conversations throughout the day, without necessarily wanting to also browse their feed.
"On mobile, each app can only focus on doing one thing well," he said—and maybe he was right, as Messenger has become the second most popular app of its kind, and boasts an estimated over two billion users globally as of today.
No one's arguing that Messenger's great, but it would certainly be handy to be able to call anyone you want directly from Facebook as well.
Imagine you come across an unexpected post from your bestie, and you've suddenly got a hankering to hit them up and talk about it. It would certainly be easier to do so with a single tap on their Facebook profile, rather than leaving the app and looking them up on a different one.
We have no official information from Facebook or any further details yet, such as how soon we can expect such a feature to go public, and if they plan to make it available to any and all Facebook users in the future. We'll update this article if any more information comes out.
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