{"id":112420,"date":"2018-11-01T19:24:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T19:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=112420"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:48:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:48:38","slug":"messenger-4-simple-redesign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/messenger-4-simple-redesign\/","title":{"rendered":"You&#8217;ll either love or hate the Facebook Messenger redesign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-97306 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"facebook messenger\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-664x374.jpg 664w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-238x134.jpg 238w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-436x246.jpg 436w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576-304x170.jpg 304w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After years and years of adding all sorts of features to Messenger, Facebook has decided to pull it back a little. The newest version of Facebook\u2019s standalone messaging app, which has grown to include a whopping <strong>nine separate tabs<\/strong> offering a multitude of features beyond mere messaging, will focus on simplicity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Messenger\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/9c257d58-96d0-11e6-9e4d-00163ed833e7\/2391314979\/messenger-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Messenger<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Messenger<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--70\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"70\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"7\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">7<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Facebook Messenger redesign makes it much simpler to use and comes with a brand new dark mode<\/h2>\n<p>Ever since Facebook forced all of its mobile users to download a standalone app to send private messages to their Facebook friends, Messenger has been a big deal. Messenger now has <strong>1.3 billion active users<\/strong> and Facebook hasn\u2019t stopped trying to cram more and more into what is primarily a messaging app. If there is a way to monetize it, then Facebook has probably tried to squeeze it into Messenger. This is why Messenger now has things like bots, business accounts, games, and even payments.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More on Messenger<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"How to read messages on Facebook Messenger without the sender knowing \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-read-messages-on-facebook-messenger-without-the-sender-knowing\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-l,f_auto,dpr_auto\/p\/a9cd6d1e-9160-11e6-a886-00163ec9f5fa\/3982978050\/unseen-logo.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to read messages on Facebook Messenger without the sender knowing \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"The best hidden games on Facebook Messenger \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/the-best-hidden-games-on-facebook-messenger\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>The best hidden games on Facebook Messenger \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"10 Facebook Messenger tricks and secrets that will amaze your friends \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/tricks-and-secrets-on-facebook-messenger-that-will-amaze-your-friends\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/1252182_630x354-568x319.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>10 Facebook Messenger tricks and secrets that will amaze your friends \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"How to see your chat history on Messenger \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-see-your-chat-history-on-facebook-messenger\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/fb-messenger-2-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to see your chat history on Messenger \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The problem with all that though, is that <strong>many users don\u2019t want all the extra bells and whistles<\/strong> that come packaged in with Messenger. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.fb.com\/news\/2018\/10\/say-hello-to-the-new-messenger-introducing-messenger-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to Facebook<\/a>, \u201cIn a recent Messenger study, 7 out of 10 (71%) people told us simplicity is the top priority for them in a messaging app.\u201d Now add to that the fact that the complicated extras <strong>use up battery power and hog device RAM even when they\u2019re not being used<\/strong>, and it is plain to see that Facebook has a Messenger problem.<\/p>\n<p>The social giant is hoping that what it is calling Messenger 4 will be the solution to that problem. The Messenger 4 redesign aims for simplicity and <strong>cuts the nine tabs down to three.<\/strong> Now, whenever you use Messenger you\u2019ll find the Chats tab, the People tab, and the Discover tab. Chats is where you\u2019ll find all of your private and group conversations; People is where you\u2019ll be able to check in on your friends, read stories, see who is online etc.; and Discover is where you\u2019ll be able to find all of those extras like games, business contacts, and even a place to book your next vacation.<\/p>\n<p>Everything that Messenger has grown to be is still there. Now, though, thanks to this latest Messenger 4 redesign it is all much easier to ignore.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_112422\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-112422\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-112422\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Messenger 4 update redesign simple to use\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-664x374.jpg 664w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-238x134.jpg 238w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-436x246.jpg 436w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-304x170.jpg 304w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/New-Facebook-Messenger-tabs.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-112422\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Chats and People Tabs are where you&#8217;ll find everything you need to speak to your friends. Everything else will be in the Discover tab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As well as the aesthetics, Messenger 4 brings with it two other innovations in an attempt to make it an improved product as well as just a better looking and less annoying one. The first new feature is the <strong>dark mode<\/strong>, which is designed to reduce the amount of glare coming from your screen. Dark mode is already popular across a whole range of apps including Twitter and YouTube. It is particularly useful at night and will be a welcome addition to Messenger.<\/p>\n<p>The other new feature is much more focused on messaging. Color gradients will allow you to customize your individual chat bubbles with different colors. Whether you want to do this to reflect your mood or not is up to you, but when the Messenger 4 update drops onto your device, you\u2019ll have the option to do so.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Messenger\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/9c257d58-96d0-11e6-9e4d-00163ed833e7\/2391314979\/messenger-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Messenger<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Messenger<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--70\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"70\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"7\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">7<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The Messenger 4 redesign will be rolling out to all 1.3 billion Messenger users around the world over the next few weeks. Big changes on the way then, make sure you let us know whether you love or hate the Messenger update in the comments below.<\/p>\n<!-- Shortcode [playwire] does not match the conditions -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Facebook Messenger redesign makes it much simpler to use and comes with a brand new dark mode<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9073,"featured_media":112422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[1059,1040],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-112420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-facebook","tag-messaging-apps"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327114,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112420\/revisions\/327114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112420"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=112420"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=112420"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=112420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}