Updated 04:24 PM EST, Thu, Nov 21, 2024

Facebook Messenger Download & New Features: Android App Hits 1 Billion Google Play Downloads

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Facebook is now celebrating a milestone after its Messenger app hits 1 billion downloads on Google's PlayStore.

The social media giant proves how instant messaging can present massive potential after their very own Facebook Messenger became one of the very few apps—most of which are from Google—that reached a billion downloads by Android users, Tech Crunch reported Tuesday.

David Marcus, Facebook Vice President for Messaging Products, proudly announced that the mobile messaging app, which some see as a possible replacement for SMS, now joins Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google's Gmail, Search, YouTube, and Maps in the very small group with 1 billion downloads.

Facebook's tactics of layering innovative sharing features in a simple messaging platform proves to be worth the effort as the company promises to provide more modern features, with some of which now being enjoyed by its users, according to the official Messenger page.

Gone is the age of expensive overseas calling thanks to the Facebook Messenger which now provides free calls even overseas, as long as you have Wi-Fi connection. Not only can you hear the person you are calling, but you can also talk face-to-face provided you both have front cameras on your smartphones.

Also, users can now get creative with their responses and show how exactly they feel using Facebook's cute (and sometimes nasty) stickers. They can also opt to send sound clips for a more personal communication.

Facebook also presented new additions to its gradually expanding array of features, such as peer-to-peer payments and location tagging.

Though the latter received numerous criticisms and backlash especially on privacy issues, Facebook is still pushing through with it and even made some updates which now allows FB Messenger users to send a map of where they are or the location where they wish to meet their friends.

"Now you can choose to explicitly send a map of your location or another particular place as a separate message," Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for Messenger, announced, adding that the update also provides full control to the user in sending out this information.

The peer-to-peer payment, on the other hand, has been released as promised by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg during his company's second quarter earnings call of 2014, the Business Insider reported.

While free, Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru does not see this innovation as a threat to PayPal citing that the P2P payments "doesn't set the company up to transition into commercial payments and the feature seems more like an experiment," Fortune has learned.

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