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Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

techcrunch.com

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Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#501

Post by gengkev »

iokanuon wrote: post #145

That's not true. You still can access the conversations from a browser on Android. - press the chat icon - wait for Google Play to open - switch back to your browser - press the "X" on the "Your conversations are moved to Messanger" dialog - select the person you want to chat with - wait for Google Play to open again - switch back to your browser Proof that it works: http://i.imgur.com/29BoF8V.png

From the TechCrunch article: "At the moment, you can just dismiss the notice and go about your business. But this summer the warning will become an impenetrable wall, and your only option will be to download the official Messenger app."

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#503

Post by superuser2 »

pikachu_is_cool wrote: post #498
superuser2 wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is overwhelmingly what they deliver. The very edgiest of the edgy use Telegram 1-2% of the time. Exactly one person in my social network installed Signal and he gave up on it after about 2 days. No one would dream of touching GPG. The .5% of the time an email address does not end in @gmail.com, it is a Google Apps account. Are your friends all Tor developers or something? I just can't imagine a set of fami…

Am I the only person who is totally fine with just texting people? I mean, given this is HN, maybe all of you people use Android and have no idea how amazing iMessage is.

Regular SMS is among the least secure communication mechanisms available. I trust Facebook a thousand times more than Verizon.

iMessage is nice, but many of the people I converse with regularly aren't in the Apple ecosystem.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#505

Post by NoGravitas »

SturgeonsLaw wrote: post #30
jds375 wrote: post #11

So rather than fixing the problems that result in users messaging via the mobile web app instead of the messenger app, they're just going to "solve" the problem by forcing users to use the messenger app? This is why Facebook as a company doesn't have high levels of consumer trust. This will bite them in the future. Once you lose that level of trust it is extremely difficult to gain back.

I suspect it's less about solving problems and more about breaking out of that web browser sandbox to siphon up more of that juicy, juicy data.

Sadly, yes. I'd (somewhat) happily run the Messenger app if its permissions were saner. What does it really need? Internet, for sure. Storage, ok. Camera and Location are fairly reasonable. Microphone only because it goes along with Camera.

But it also has Identity, Contacts, SMS, Phone, and a host of others. Do not want.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#506

Post by wcummings »

robocat wrote: post #48
rietta wrote: post #20

I dislike this change. I specifically only access Facebook on my phone via the web app because (1) it saves significant battery and (2) I absolutely do not want the popup bubbles during the work day from church and other social groups I am connected to on Facebook. Ultimately, all this means is that I will stop accessing Facebook Messenger on my phone all together. I will communicate with the people who matter most o…

I wonder where that leaves the say 10% of users that use a browser because they are on an device that isn't supported by Messenger (obsolete Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Fire, etc).

Mob site still works on my blackberry

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#507

Post by rand1012 »

gcr wrote: post #351
galdosdi wrote: post #295

This is kind of convenient; it gives me one more excuse not to use facebook. A few days ago I got the usual notification email that somebody had sent me a message on FB. Clicking is a low barrier so I clicked, curiously. Then I instead got the "No, now you have to install Messenger app" screen. That was enough of a barrier that I said "oh forget it, who cares, anybody who knows me would know better than to send me an…

I see it the opposite way. Using Messenge could give you a great way to use facebook without subjecting yourself to the News Feed Giant Tentacled Monster. Why not use Messenger without Facebook? My reason not to use Facebook was because it trivializes friendships. With Facebook, I wouldn't have to go out of my way to be "friends" with someone, so the relationship would be less meaningful. But Messenger doesn't share…

I'd never trust installing their apps on my phone. The Facebook app admittedly listens to the microphone. So Facebook messages will largely become a black hole for me too.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#508

Post by pikachu_is_cool »

kobayashi wrote: post #463
gcr wrote: post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adblocking wouldn't address any of the four points that pikachu_is_cool raised. For point 3, Facebook could still be analyzing the contents of messages.

Yah, I agree. But I'm still surprised that a adblocker/tracker blocker isn't used by that kind of individual.

An adblocker just treats the symptoms. I'd rather just not have the disease :)

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#509

Post by pikachu_is_cool »

superuser2 wrote: post #503
pikachu_is_cool wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only person who is totally fine with just texting people? I mean, given this is HN, maybe all of you people use Android and have no idea how amazing iMessage is.

Regular SMS is among the least secure communication mechanisms available. I trust Facebook a thousand times more than Verizon. iMessage is nice, but many of the people I converse with regularly aren't in the Apple ecosystem.

I mean, you're not wrong there, but personally I'd rather have my private conversations in the hands of Verizon than Facebook. Facebook actually sees the value in the private conversations and tries to monetize it. Verizon, on the other hand, has bigger fish to fry.

I'd rather give my conversations to a company that sees storing/processing messages as a liability, rather than an asset.

Re: Facebook disabling messaging in its mobile web app to push people to Messenger

#510

Post by wutbrodo »

bogomipz wrote: post #259
wutbrodo wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Facebook (somewhat sparingly) but considered deleting my profile a few years ago, when I wasn't using it at all. I decided against because it was so useful as an "every once in a while" inbox for people who wouldn't have been able to reach me otherwise: a girl I met at a party, a cousin from Australia who happened to be in town for a couple of days, etc etc. The former would either never find me (depending on h…

Or you know, you guys could have emailed each other. Everyone still has email and you know what its the one thing on the internet that always works really well. This is typical trope of the "why I have to be on FB." Download everyones contact and or sync to your address book. When people are in town they text you or email you. Trust me it works. People found each other just fine before FB and they can just find now.

> Or you know, you guys could have emailed each other.

Um, did you actually read my comment? Roughly half ofit was dedicated to the fact that being able to find me by just my name and photo is easier than trying to track down my phone number; I'm not sure how you missed that....

Why do you think it would be any easier to find my email address? If anything, connecting us across my extended family would be a lot harder through finding a bunch of emails than finding a bunch of email addresses. I honestly don't know what reality you're imagining where everybody has the email address of everybody they know.

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