Facebook is testing voice and video calls without using Messenger

Some Facebook users can now make voice and video calls right from the Facebook app, without going through Messenger. This is just an experimental feature, to reduce the cumbersome when having to switch back and forth between the Facebook and Messenger applications.

Last fall, Facebook also tested the messaging feature in the main app. Messenger used to be part of the Facebook app but split as a standalone app in 2014. Users had to download Messenger to send messages and make calls to other Facebook users on their phones.

Bloomberg assessed Facebook’s move as the latest effort to integrate all Facebook applications and services. According to Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger, Facebook is starting to see Messenger as a service rather than a standalone app. That means people will use Messenger while doing other tasks like watching videos or playing games. Voice and video calls using Messenger technology are already available on other Facebook platforms, including Instagram, Oculus, Portal.

Hayes describes Messenger as “the tissue that connects people when they’re not together, no matter what service they’re using.”

From September 2020, Facebook enabled messaging between Instagram and Messenger. The company also plans to bring this capability to WhatsApp. CEO Mark Zuckerberg argues that integrating messaging services benefits users, helping them reach more people and reducing the need to download or switch between apps.

Meanwhile, critics say it’s impossible to weave services together to break Facebook. Last week, US federal authorities filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, wanting to separate Instagram and WhatsApp from Zuckerberg’s company.