The standalone Facebook Messenger app has proved to be an extremely worthwhile addition to the company’s ever growing range of mobile apps. Although it has already achieved enviable success through download and user adoption rates, it seems that Facebook is intending to build on the Messenger platform by announcing a native iPad version of the app, a first official glimpse of which could potentially be seen during their planned event tomorrow.
The January 15th Facebook event has been widely discussed over the weekend, with some corners suggesting that the world’s largest social network could potentially be planning on announcing a Facebook branded smartphone or dedicated operating system to run on hardware from recognized manufacturers. If that does prove to be true then any iPad Facebook Messenger app would prove to be a secondary focal point of the event, but would still be a welcome addition to the Facebook app lineup.
The iPad version of the Messenger app is said to be extremely similar to the smartphone version in terms of aesthetics, but will build on the feature set to bring a more powerful experience to users. As messaging and communication between connections is the backbone of the app, the iPad variant will allow emoticons to be sent in transmissions along with the ability to share photos, location stamps and the ability to send messages between groups of friends.
Users will also be able to send if and when a message has been read, thanks to the timestamped read receipts along with visual indications that the recipient is actually typing and replying to the message. Reports are also suggesting that Facebook could potentially be set to include the ability to record and send voice messages as part of the functionality. Whilst this would be a very enviable feature, it remains to be seen whether or not that will actually make it into the initial release.
Facebook has been inviting the world’s press to attend the event with the promise that they we will get to see what they have "been building". The company’s recent focus on mobile users and their clear intention to support all of Apple’s platforms seem like it can only be a good thing for iOS users when it comes to accessing the world’s largest social network.
(via TechCrunch)
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