Apps have develop into one of the crucial handy methods to immediately entry providers and simplify on a regular basis duties, all whereas acquiring a personalised expertise.
Nonetheless, as environment friendly as they’re, apps will also be expensive to take care of, and their profitability would not all the time justify ongoing assist.
For that reason, Fb has determined to discontinue one in all its most fashionable apps after 5 years.
Fb’s dad or mum firm Meta is shutting down the Messenger desktop app for Mac and Home windows. Starting December 15, customers will not be capable of log into the standalone app and can as an alternative be redirected to the Fb on-line web site to proceed messaging.
On the day of the official shutdown, customers will obtain an in-app notification. Based on Fb’s assist tab, Mac customers may have 60 days to proceed utilizing the Messenger desktop app earlier than it’s totally retired. After that, entry might be blocked.
These with Messenger-only accounts that do not have a Fb profile will be capable of use Messenger.com to log in and proceed chatting with out making a Fb account.
Meta encourages customers to delete the app as soon as it turns into inactive, since it should not be usable.
Find out how to protect Messenger’s chat historical past
To save lots of the Messenger’s chat historical past, customers should allow safe storage and arrange a PIN from the desktop app earlier than transitioning to the online model.
As soon as that is finished, all chat historical past will stay accessible on-line.
Find out how to examine whether or not Messenger safe storage is enabled:
- Click on Settings above the profile picture.
- Click on Privateness & Security.
- Click on Finish-to-Finish Encrypted Chats.
- Click on Message Storage.
- Guarantee Activate Safe Storage is activated.
Meta’s Messenger desktop app: historical past
The Messenger desktop app model was launched in 2020, through the top of the Covid pandemic, to offer customers a extra handy technique to keep related all through the interval of social distancing.
On the time, Meta reported a surge in exercise, with complete messaging growing greater than 50% in March 2020, whereas voice and video calls on Messenger and WhatsApp greater than doubled, particularly in international locations most affected by lockdowns.
Associated: Spotify provides new messaging function, letting customers slide into DMs
Person engagement throughout Meta’s platforms, together with feeds and tales, additionally spiked as individuals sought to remain in contact with family members. Nonetheless, Meta’s enterprise confronted challenges, since lots of its providers weren’t straight monetized by greater engagement, and ad income declined in areas implementing strict pandemic measures.
Meta’s new enterprise technique
Most not too long ago, Meta’s second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025 revealed that complete income elevated 22% yr over yr, every day energetic customers have been up 6% to just about 3.5 billion, and ad impressions rose 9%. But bills additionally climbed, growing 12% to $27.1 billion.
One fast-growing space for Meta is Synthetic Intelligence (AI). The corporate not too long ago launched Meta Superintelligence Labs, devoted to creating superior fashions and modern merchandise similar to Llama 4.1 and 4.2.
“Meta’s imaginative and prescient is to carry private superintelligence to everybody — so that individuals can direct it in direction of what they worth in their very own lives. We consider this has the potential to start an thrilling new period of particular person empowerment,” mentioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an earnings name.
As a part of this superintelligence initiative, Meta is specializing in enterprise messaging and AI integration, testing merchandise in some markets that embed AI capabilities into Fb and Instagram advertisements, in addition to straight into e-commerce platforms.
Whereas shutting down the Messenger desktop app could seem inconvenient, Meta’s resolution may streamline the consumer expertise. By consolidating messaging via the online model, customers achieve constant entry throughout desktop gadgets while not having to obtain or replace separate apps.
Associated: Apple drops a preferred app at US authorities’s request
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