Facebook Begins Forcing Messenger App On Mobile Users

If you are an active Facebook user and one of the many long time hold-outs from updating or migrating to the stand-alone Messenger App you may soon be left little choice! Facebook has decided they are nailing shut one of the few remaining options mobile users had for accessing chat via their phones and has, quite forcefully, begun pushing downloads of their Messenger App.

For several months now Facebook has been doing its best to gradually push users towards their messenger platform. A move that started when the company decided to build the service outward as a stand alone from the main mobile application. However, until now users could easily access their messages and chat with friends using their browser and the mobile site. Unfortunately that wasn't good enough for Facebook, as they seemingly want to drive as many users as they can to installing the app.

Beginning this past weekend the company began working to remove the Messenger function on the mobile version of its website, pushing users instead to a landing page and redirect instructing you to install the separate Facebook Messenger app. According to Engadget, Facebook’s push toward Messenger for mobile website users appears to affect only Android users for now, but it’s probably only a matter of time before iOS users get forced to Messenger as well. 

Facebook insists that this move comes because it wants users on Messenger so they can have the “best experience” while chatting with their friends. Of course, we highly doubt that, especially with Facebook pushing more adds and service through the messenger platform. I suspect this is more about the all mighty dollar than anything else!

Those of us that still want or need to use Facebook and want to use the messenger service, but not be bothered with the privacy concerns or other issues we've discussed that plague the Messenger app still have one last glimmer of hope. We can jump through a few minor hoops and access our messages though the main site. One simply needs to avoid the mobile site, instead using "Desktop View" on our mobile phones.