Yahoo News Facebook just replaced your desktop inbox with Messenger
Facebook has changed the way we read our private messages. Again.
In the latest update sure to stir up the user base — even if it's just for a little while — the social network appears to have ditched the old layout of its desktop website's inbox, replacing it with Facebook Messenger.
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The move to Messenger, first spotted by TechCrunch, brings even greater uniformity to the overall Facebook user experience. Your inbox on Facebook.com is now identical to your inbox on the Facebook mobile app, the Messenger mobile app and the standalone Messenger website, complete with the chat-friendly options that come along with the service, like built-in emoji, sticker and GIF buttons, along with the more specialized commands, like payment and games.
While chatting with friends from the Home screen remains the same, with a pop-up window for each conversation, the Inbox icon has been supplanted by Messenger's now-familiar circular blue logo.
Once you select the logo, you're taken directly into the Messenger interface.
Image: Haley hamblin/FACEBOOK SCREENGRAB
You can explore the inbox features of Messenger using the dropdown tool seen below. Any archived threads from the old Inbox system will roll over, and it's much easier to find those creepy message requests from randos in your Filtered Requests inbox.
Image: haley hamblin/facebook screengrab
Unsurprisingly, user response to the change came quickly. After a post about what's coming from Messenger in 2017 was inundated with complaints about the loss of the inbox layout, Facebook's head of Messenger David Marcus replied in a comment to address the issue:
He later stated that the Messenger team will consider implementing solutions to address the most common user complaints about Messenger going forward.
Mashable reached out to Facebook about the potential ramifications of the new setup — particularly if the separate browser Messenger client will continue to exist. A rep didn't respond directly to the question.
