In order to compete with Skype, Facetime and Google Duo, Facebook has recently released a new Instant Video calling feature for its Messenger application.
The new calling feature is much improved as compared to the old one. Now, unlike the previous feature in which users were merely able to see each other, the users are capable of sharing their own video feeds to friends who can then respond using the chat box. With the Messenger’s new feature, besides seeing each other during a call, users can also chat. This new feature becomes handy as users besides talking on the call all the time, also like to let their friends share some stuff with others.
According to Mirror.co.uk, for using the new “Facebook Instant Video feature” users need to update the Facebook Messenger app to the latest version via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, depending on the platform they are using. And then to begin calling the new way, users simply need to tap on the video call button on the upper right side of the convo screen.
Once a call is made, the video feeds show up over the conversation chat box. Then the users, using the conversation pane, can decide either to respond through text or turn on audio if they wish to talk.
Moreover, Express.co.uk described that Facebook is also updating the Messenger app with a new feature that shows a list of the most popular contacts called “Favorites” and another list that shows the names of those friends whose birthday events are coming up. Therefore, this feature will enable users to greet their friends or send them gifts ahead of their birthdays. This feature is already a part of the Facebook website, however, for the Facebook’s Messenger app, this is something new.
These days, especially due to the introduction of 3G/4G technologies access to the internet has become much cheaper and faster than ever. So the video calling facility is becoming more popular and easily accessible to the people around the world.
Skype is one of the most used apps for video calling and has been used for several years. Moreover, the Apple’s Facetime app is also there for video calling on iOS platforms. To compete with these two apps, Google rolled out its “Google Duo” app several weeks ago.
Facebook believes that people around the globe like to share their experiences in real time with their family members, co-workers, and friends, therefore, the new Instant Video feature would make video calling much easier and comfortable. Now the Facebook Messenger app can give almost everything to its users that is found in Skype and the good thing is that we can achieve all that without needing another account.