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The new Facebook change that’s frustrating people

<p>Just when we seem to have gotten the hang of the puzzle that is Facebook, they like to change it all up again.</p> <p>Once upon a time, you could easily message your friends from the Facebook mobile application and go about your day searching your news feed for videos of unlikely animal friends.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Facebook is phasing out chat from its mobile site and there’s not much we can do about it. The Facebook app for Android and iOS began encouraging people to install Facebook Messenger in August 2014.  Some users switched to using the Facebook mobile site on their phone browser instead of using the app, so they continue to use as normal.</p> <p>However, now all mobile accessible versions of have been hit with the change.  Facebook is prompting users to install its Messenger app, warning it will now be your only option.</p> <p>The dedicated app has features and functions that are not available in the mobile web version, including the ability to send and receive regular SMS messages on some platforms, video and voice calls, as well as Facebook’s floating notification and chat boxes, called Chat Heads. </p> <p>So why change it? Obviously, Facebook wants as many users as possible. With the new model, users uninterested in having a profile, accessing pictures and seeing what their friends are up to can simply use the messenger app instead.</p> <p>What do you think of the latest Facebook change? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/04/how-to-upload-photos-to-facebook/"><em>Back to basics: How to upload photos to Facebook</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/04/how-to-save-articles-on-facebook-to-read-later/"><em>How to save articles on Facebook to read later</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/05/new-facebook-reaction-buttons-explained/" target="_blank"><em>What you need to know about Facebook's new reaction buttons</em></a></strong></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

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8 tips to help you master Facebook Messager

<p>Messaging apps are booming right now as users around the world flock to the simple services.</p> <p>Facebook Messenger has just reach 800 million active monthly users.</p> <p>It now has more active monthly users than rivals Snapchat and Viber, but still lags the 900 million using WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook).</p> <p>Messenger has been downloaded more than one billion times on Android and is the second most popular iOS app of all time, behind Facebook.</p> <p>People send more than 9.5 billion photos to friends through Messenger every month and on average, more than five million GIFs are sent every day.</p> <p>Eight Messenger Tips</p> <p><strong>1. See if your message has been read</strong></p> <p>The app shows if someone has received and read any messages you send. Just look for the circle icon to the right of your display. A small image of your friend will appear when it's been read.</p> <p><strong>2. Hide location data</strong></p> <p>Messenger has several location settings so if they are enabled you can see where someone is when they read your message.</p> <p>To turn this feature off, go to your phone's Settings menu, then Privacy and then Location Services. Tap Messenger to turn it off. You can now switch it on and off within the app.</p> <p><strong>3. Big thumbs up</strong></p> <p>If you want to send a big thumbs up to your friends, just press the "Like" Button and when you hold it, this will increase the size of the thumb.</p> <p><strong>4. Delete only one message</strong></p> <p>If you don't want to delete entire conversation thread, you can go to the single message to delete them one by one. Go to the message and hold it until "Delete" option appears. You won't be able to undo this action.</p> <p><strong>5. Use other apps for sending GIFs</strong></p> <p>Apps like Giphy integrate directly into Messenger. This means you can use Giphy to quickly share a GIF. To do this, tap the three dots in the bottom right corner in a message thread.</p> <p><strong>6. Mute a conversation</strong></p> <p>It's easy to stop getting notifications from a conversation without leaving it. Tap the name of the person you're messaging at the top of the screen and then tap Notifications. You can then set the time you want to mute it.</p> <p><strong>7. Use Messenger from a website</strong></p> <p>Did you know that Facebook Messenger has a web app for the desktop? Just log in to Messenger.com.</p> <p><strong>8. You don't need to belong to Facebook</strong></p> <p>Anyone with a phone number can use Messenger. Just download the app and select "Not on Facebook?" You can sign up from there.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Denys Prykhodov / Shutterstock.com</em></p> <p>First appeared on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a></strong></span>.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/01/man-gives-shivering-stranger-the-shirt-off-his-back/"><strong>Man gives shivering stranger the shirt off his back</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/01/eat-like-an-okinawan-and-live-until-100/"><strong>Eat like an Okinawan and live until you’re 100</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/01/one-day-old-otter-pup-falls-asleep-on-floating-mum/"><strong>One-day-old otter pup falls asleep on floating mum</strong></a></em></span></p>

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