Meta will shut down the Messenger desktop app on December 15. The company did not explain the reasons, but users will be transferred to the web version of the service.
Meta will shut down the Messenger desktop app on December 15. The company did not explain the reasons, but users will be transferred to the web version of the service.
According to TechRadar, the desktop client has already been removed from the Mac App Store, and new installations are not possible. After the shutdown date, you will not be able to log in to the application: users will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website for messaging, and those who used Messenger without a Facebook account will be redirected to Messenger.com. The mobile versions on iOS and Android work without changes, the changes only apply to PCs and laptops.
Meta will warn about the «deprecation» via a message within the application. After receiving such a notification, the user will have 60 days to switch, after which access to the desktop client will be blocked. The company recommends enabling «secure storage» for encrypted chats in advance and setting a PIN — then the correspondence history will be pulled up in the web version. In Messenger settings, this is done as follows: «Privacy & safety» → «End-to-end encrypted chats» → «Message storage» → enable «secure storage» and set a PIN.
Key for business and team chat users: the change does not affect your contacts and groups, but the separate desktop interface will disappear. From now on, you will have to work in a browser or in mobile applications. Some users are already expressing dissatisfaction, because Messenger for PC was used for daily communication at work and school.
Meta did not provide an official explanation: the company’s materials only mention the end of support and redirection to the web. To maintain access to correspondence, it is worth checking whether protected storage is enabled and whether the history is displayed correctly in the browser. If you need system notifications and multi-window mode on a computer, a temporary solution may be to pin Messenger.com as a separate browser window or PWA until the company announces further plans for the desktop experience.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Meta is testing an old idea again — posting job vacancies on Facebook. The feature, which the social network first launched in 2017 but closed less than five years later, is returning in a new format.
