Facebook Launches Standalone Messenger For The Web

You can chat with friends and family via Facebook Messenger on your phone or tablet, but to get to Messenger via the web, you have to navigate through Facebook's website. At F8 this year, Facebook made sure we all knew Messenger would become more platform than app, so today's announcement is really no surprise. If you head over to messenger.com, you'll now be greeted with a standalone web version of Facebook Messenger, which exactly mimics the mobile version of the service platform.

You can still use the Messenger service inside Facebook, which hasn't been shuttered just yet. Over time, expect Facebook to make a clean break. At some point, we'll likely be redirected to messenger.com when we access Messenger in Facebook.

You'll still need a Facebook account to use Messenger, of course. If you head to the Messenger site and don't immediately see your chats pop up, click the Messenger icon in the top left — it'll show up.

So why a web app? Aside from the platform angle, a web version of Messenger  is more useful on simpler phones that rely on web apps — phones that are very popular in emerging markets like India. It's also just a cleaner way to chat, and frees us of the cluttered Facebook page.

To access Messenger via the web, use any browser and head over to the website. It's all ready to go!

Source: Messenger