News

Facebook Messenger Update Includes Free Voice Calling

 

I received a notification on my phone today that there’s an update to the Facebook Messenger app, which is now in Version 2.1.1.

I naturally checked the change log and it says that one of the new things in this version of the Messenger app is that users can “call friends for free from Messenger”.  There’s a note, however, that free calling will be rolling out “over the next few weeks”.  Just as expected, there’s nothing in the app yet that allows free calling but I expect the feature to be available soon.

When Facebook added voice messaging on the Messenger app weeks ago, news came out that it was testing a free calling feature in Canada.  Just today, there’s news that in the US, the free calling feature is now available for all iPhone users. It’s therefore just a matter of time before free calls become available internationally, including the Philippines, especially since the note in the recent update says that the feature will be rolling out over the next few weeks.

facebook-messenger-free-calls

Facebook said it wanted to concentrate on mobile and recent developments really show that the company is going in the right direction.  It has a huge user base so it’s smart for Mark Zuckerberg and company to capitalize on this.  With the addition of voice messaging, it was going after apps like Voxer and WhatsApp.  Now the addition of free calling to Messenger will impact on apps like Viber, Vonage and Skype.

Yesterday, Facebook announced Graph Search, a personalized search feature that would be launching soon. Graph Search is a feature that will greatly improve the user experience for those who are on the social networking site.  Then the company is slowly improving its Messenger app and will be complete soon with the inclusion of free calling.

Facebook is on a roll, I must say.  It’s a company that definitely knows what it’s doing.

Technobaboy.com is one of the most active tech sites in the Philippines. We enjoy sharing interesting and relevant stories about the latest trends in technology, developments in mobile phones and social media, and modern digital and geek culture.

2 Comments

  1. ex-bbUser Current Android fan Reply

    Nice feature, Im wondering how Blackberry can handle this again. They will pause again and keep it that way(chat only) or go with the trend. This is always an issue to them since they are selling services. If they able to activate this ‘free calling feature’ I will comeback to blackberry (yes, even just for this feature)

Write A Comment