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The Messenger app is getting a new voice calls tab

The Messenger app is getting a new voice calls tab
Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

  • Updated:

Messenger has been around for what seems like forever. Ever since Facebook forced you to download a separate for chatting to your Facebook friends on your mobile, it has been one of the biggest messaging apps around. Being so old and so established means that it is not often that we see big fundamental changes coming to Messenger but today that is exactly what we have. Let’s take a look.

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Meta has announced that it is adding a new Calls tab to the Messenger app that will be found in between the Chats tab and the People tab at the bottom of the screen.

It seems a little crazy to think that this feature is only coming now when you consider that Messenger has had voice calls since 2013. However, it is worth noting that Messenger isn’t supposed to be a fully-fledged communication app like say, for instance, WhatsApp. It is the app for the messaging function of a social network. It would be much easier to understand this if Facebook hadn’t forced us all to download two separate apps in the first place.

Still, though, this is an important update that will change how many people use the Messenger app. Meta says it is implementing the change because the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to work from home, meaning hundreds of millions more audio and video calls are being made every day. The company says it has seen a 40% increase in daily callers since the pandemic began in early 2020.

One interesting worth watching out for is how this change will affect WhatsApp. Although they have always had similar features, this update now makes Messenger and WhatsApp more direct competitors as it is now much easier to make calls on Messenger. Up until now, you had to start a call from within a Messenger chat itself.

If you want to get even more out of the Messenger app you should our ultimate guide to Facebook Messenger.

Image via: Meta

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney is a news reporter for Softonic, keeping readers up to date on everything affecting their favorite apps and programs. His beat includes social media apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Patrick also covers antivirus and security issues, web browsers, the full Google suite of apps and programs, and operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android.

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