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Social networking site Facebook said
its messaging service is being used
by more than half a billion people,
few months after it was separated
from the main Facebook app.
Facebook said in April, that users
would need to download a separate
app for Messenger, which would
allow them to send videos, make free
calls and chat with groups. The
company said in April that its
Messenger service had over 200
million users.
In fact CEO Mark Zuckerberg also had
an answer about why they got
everyone to install the app. He said
at a recent Q&A, “The first thing I
want to do is acknowledge that
asking everyone in our community to
install a new app is a big ask. We
really believe that this is a better
experience and the messaging is
really important. Each app can do
one thing well.”
However for Facebook, getting people
to download Messenger came with its
fair share of backlash. According to
rumours and various petitions that
were floating on the Internet, it was
argued that Facebook Messenger
posed a serious privacy threat,
because it would secretly use the
phone camera and record audio, call
and send messages without user
permission, identify details about the
users and all their contacts, and send
that info on to third parties.
In fact Facebook had to then issue an
explainer on Messenger to quash the
false reports. Facebook Messenger
Team’s Peter Martinazzi had written
in a blogpost , “some have claimed
that the app is always using your
phone’s camera and microphone to
see and hear what you’re doing.
These reports aren’t true, and many
have been corrected.”
So how exactly does Facebook use
the camera and microphone through
the messenger app? As the blogpost
explains, like most other apps it
needs permissions to be able to click
photos, record audio, etc.
The post reads, “Like most other
apps, we request permission to run
certain features, such as making calls
and sending photos, videos or voice
messages. If you want to send a
selfie to a friend, the app needs
permission to turn on your phone’s
camera and capture that photo. We
don’t turn on your camera or
microphone when you aren’t using
the app.”
Where Messenger is concerned, the
privacy concerns were blown over the
top. At the end, Messenger just wants
access to all those features that
other messaging apps on phones
want as well.
Now with the company separating
the app from Facebook, it appears
that at least the number of users
who are turning to the app has
increased.
Messenger a big hit: Facebook says 500 million people are using the app Tech2 Mobile
its messaging service is being used
by more than half a billion people,
few months after it was separated
from the main Facebook app.
Facebook said in April, that users
would need to download a separate
app for Messenger, which would
allow them to send videos, make free
calls and chat with groups. The
company said in April that its
Messenger service had over 200
million users.
In fact CEO Mark Zuckerberg also had
an answer about why they got
everyone to install the app. He said
at a recent Q&A, “The first thing I
want to do is acknowledge that
asking everyone in our community to
install a new app is a big ask. We
really believe that this is a better
experience and the messaging is
really important. Each app can do
one thing well.”
However for Facebook, getting people
to download Messenger came with its
fair share of backlash. According to
rumours and various petitions that
were floating on the Internet, it was
argued that Facebook Messenger
posed a serious privacy threat,
because it would secretly use the
phone camera and record audio, call
and send messages without user
permission, identify details about the
users and all their contacts, and send
that info on to third parties.
In fact Facebook had to then issue an
explainer on Messenger to quash the
false reports. Facebook Messenger
Team’s Peter Martinazzi had written
in a blogpost , “some have claimed
that the app is always using your
phone’s camera and microphone to
see and hear what you’re doing.
These reports aren’t true, and many
have been corrected.”
So how exactly does Facebook use
the camera and microphone through
the messenger app? As the blogpost
explains, like most other apps it
needs permissions to be able to click
photos, record audio, etc.
The post reads, “Like most other
apps, we request permission to run
certain features, such as making calls
and sending photos, videos or voice
messages. If you want to send a
selfie to a friend, the app needs
permission to turn on your phone’s
camera and capture that photo. We
don’t turn on your camera or
microphone when you aren’t using
the app.”
Where Messenger is concerned, the
privacy concerns were blown over the
top. At the end, Messenger just wants
access to all those features that
other messaging apps on phones
want as well.
Now with the company separating
the app from Facebook, it appears
that at least the number of users
who are turning to the app has
increased.
Messenger a big hit: Facebook says 500 million people are using the app Tech2 Mobile
