It made Messenger a separate app and then turned it into a platform all its own Facebook annoyed and puzzled many people last year when it forced them to download its Messenger app for chats. Its reasons for doing so are now clearer: Messenger is becoming a beast of an app, with its own links to outside businesses and software apart from Facebook’s main site. At the company’s F8 developer conference this week in San Francisco, executives pulled back the curtain on the new Messenger. It’s now a storefront and a platform for other mobile apps, which can be downloaded from within Messenger and integrated into people’s Messenger chats. There are more than 40 outside app partners already aiming to spice up users’ conversations with things like personalized GIFs, tools to turn your texts into songs, and even sports animations from ESPN. The apps can be accessed by hitting the “…” button on the Messenger compose screen. Users can still send each other plain old text-based messages. But why do that when the Messenger app Ditty can turn your text into a song? Or when you can superimpose fire onto your friend’s house with Pyro? These sorts of integrations, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at F8, are meant to give people more tools to express themselves and to better say what they want to say. Also, Facebook is now positioning Messenger as a business platform. Soon, when people buy things from select online retailers, they’ll be able to sign up for updates like shipping notifications from within Messenger, or chat with the retailer there, or even change their order. Facebook thinks this is better than having to use regular email or phone calls to engage with the business. Facebook’s initial retailer partners include Zulily and Everlane. Plus, Messenger users now have the ability to send each other money. You can’t buy things from businesses directly through Messenger yet, but it’s not hard to imagine Facebook going down this route, especially as the company experiments with a “buy button” on Facebook’s main site. Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger handles quite a few voice calls. In fact, it accounts for more than 10 percent of mobile VoIP calls globally, Zuckerberg said. Messenger now has roughly 600 million users who log in at least monthly, Zuckerberg said. That’s almost half the size of Facebook’s total user base. Late last year, at a public Q&A, Zuckerberg said Facebook split Messenger off to make it a better, faster messaging product. Apparently, Facebook also thinks Messenger can do a lot of other things better. Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach’s e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com Related content feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 22635.3566 for the Beta Channel, released on April 26, 2024. By Preston Gralla Apr 26, 2024 251 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 news Dropbox adds end-to-end encryption for team folders Dropbox this week unveiled a range of features, including security updates and key management, and the ability to co-edit Microsoft 365 documents from within the file-sharing app. By Matthew Finnegan Apr 26, 2024 3 mins Cloud Storage Collaboration Software Productivity Software feature Android versions: A living history from 1.0 to 15 Explore Android's ongoing evolution with this visual timeline of versions, starting B.C. (Before Cupcake) and going all the way to 2024's Android 15 (beta) release. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 23 mins Small and Medium Business Smartphones Android news analysis The unspoken obnoxiousness of Google's Gemini improvements Google's Gemini chatbot is seeing all sorts of upgrades on Android this week, but those advancements reveal a darker underlying reality. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 12 mins Google Assistant Google Android Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe