Earlier this year we had talked about some updates that Facebook was rolling out, like 3D-360 Video Camera. Well now we are here to tell you about the newest update to Facebook, through their Messenger app. On September 1st, Facebook announced that Messenger will now have “Instant Video” in its Messenger app for you to live stream privately.
SOME FUNCTIONS INCLUDE:
- New live video button added to every chat window in the app
- Ability to text back and forth during live stream
- View video with sound off or on, off is the default
- Front and rear camera are able to be used interchangeably effortlessly
How does Instant Video work? You press the video icon in the top right hand corner of the app right next to the phone icon. Then the live stream starts instantly with the person you are chatting with. Here at Regan we tested out this feature. It is easy to use, with Facebook guiding the steps of how it works. This feature is like FaceTime except you aren’t seeing the other person and they can’t respond until you finish streaming. Instant Video he ability to text back and forth, make video smaller, and turn the sound off or on. Facebook also recently released Facebook Live for desktop users and now you go live privately. The live stream will start it’s streaming in a small pop-up window with sound turned off by default, you will still be able to text back and forth with your chat buddy while live stream is going.
Other updates coming to the messenger app are the ability for businesses to bring more user interface (UI) elements into the thread they have with their customers and users. Facebook is also adding payments to messenger to allow businesses to sell products and services to customers through messenger. People can now share bots they are using though individual messages with friends. For those of you that don’t know what an internet bot is, it is a software that performs automated tasks over the internet, for this pursue, through messenger. One example is the CNN bot, it gives you a list of options to pick from about the news and you type back the option you want and it displays the matching articles that you selected through options. Developers and Businesses have already created 30,000 bots for Facebook Messenger! The last of the Facebook update, called Platform v1.2 for messenger, is a “welcome screen that provides more information about the experience ahead” when interacting with business and services.
