Facebook Messenger (commonly known as Messenger) finally has a desktop app for macOS, and it is now available on Apple’s Mac App Store but it is not a worldwide release. Currently, the messaging app by Facebook is available on the app store in France and a few more countries as spotted by a tech news website. The Messenger desktop app for macOS has not been released in the United States, where it is quite popular, and it is still unclear when the new desktop version of the app by Facebook will reach Apple Mac users in India. The latest development comes days after Facebook started rolling out its new version of the Messenger app on iOS under ‘Project LightSpeed.’
Other than France, the messenger app was also available in a few other international markets, including Mexico, Poland, and Australia, TechCrunch reported. It is possible that some other countries might have received the newly developed macOS version of Messenger as well.
A spokesperson told the publication said that Facebook is conducting a small test of the Messenger app for macOS in a couple of markets. “We don’t have a date when it will be available as we’re still gathering feedback from our users,” the spokesperson added.
To recall, at Facebook’s F8 event in 2019, the company had announced that it is developing the desktop app for macOS and it will be launched soon. Facebook had added that an upgraded desktop app will also reach Windows users.
At last year’s event, the company had also announced its plans to make Messenger on iOS faster and lighter under the LightSpeed Project. In a blog post on Monday, the California-based company reiterated its project’s vision after rolling out the latest version of Messenger on iPhone’s app store. In the blog post the company said:
“We are excited to begin rolling out the new version of Messenger on iOS. To make the Messenger iOS app faster, smaller, and simpler, we rebuilt the architecture and rewrote the entire codebase, which is an incredibly rare undertaking and involved engineers from across the company.”
In terms of features, the Messenger app will have the same features that are seen on the Messenger website. This includes video calling, file sharing, Group chats, enabling a dark theme and more.
As per 9To5Mac, the macOS app will be made using Electron – a framework for creating desktop applications with all the emerging technologies including JavaScript, HTML and CSS – which makes the app faster and lighter. Currently, messengers such as Slack and WhatsApp use this framework.
Facebook would have announced its latest plans with the Messenger at this year’s F8 event. However, the company has cancelled this year’s F8 conference due to the coronavirus outbreak.