Facebook is also experimenting with multiple account support in Messenger, though it’s unclear how helpful that will be for the average person.
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Both features are now being tested on an undisclosed number of users in the US. The company is testing a new feature which will incorporate SMS integration for the Messenger app and is said to replace the default messaging app of the smartphone.
After adding and subsequently removing SMS support in the app, it appears that Facebook may be adding it back, again. “At Messenger we are always trying to create new ways for people to communicate seamlessly with everyone”, a Facebook spokesperson told Engadget. But it might be making a return soon, as one user has the feature in his app. Facebook and SMS threads are kept separate, unlike Hangouts, and SMS gets a purple color to contrast Facebook’s blue.
Messenger actually offered that same feature a few years ago, but nixed it back in 2013 after it failed to take off. However, some users have spotted an SMS option on their Android phones. The message box also says “Write an SMS message”. The new addition will mean that multiple people can log in to Messenger from a single device. Until now, there has not been an easy way for people to access their individual Messenger accounts from shared devices.
This could prove useful when sharing a single device within a family or group of friends as well as a business setting where a company-owned device is passed around among employees. Rather than forcing multiple users to log in and out in each time Messenger is fired up, switching between account profiles that are all authorized on the device is a possibility now. That will likely come in handy for switching between personal and professional accounts, but most won’t have a need for it.
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“Right now, we are testing the ability for people to easily bring all their conversations – from SMS and Messenger – to one place”.
