Facebook Messenger is getting a new feature that may make organizing a group chat that little bit easier. The new feature, which is rolling out today, allows you to reply to specific messages within a group chat.
The feature is basically an expansion of the existing reaction emojis. So now when you hold down on a message, you’ll be able to add a reaction, or hit the “reply” button and add a reply to that message. The message that you reply with does appear in line with the rest of the group chat, so it will still show up at the bottom of the chat as usual, but the message you’re replying to will be quoted, ensuring that members of the chat know what you’re talking about.
With the new feature, you can reply to GIF, video, emoji, text, and photo messages, so you’re not limited to just text. It looks similar to Twitter’s “quote tweet” feature, so Twitter users should understand the concept.
The feature isn’t necessarily groundbreaking. The Facebook-owned WhatsApp has offered a similar feature for some time, so it makes sense that that Facebook would bring it over to Messenger. In fact, considering the fact that Facebook may be working on cross-platform messaging, bringing features from one service to another makes total sense.
Beyond working toward the ability to message across platforms, Facebook has been bringing other features to its messaging services too. A few weeks ago, the company began testing a Dark Mode interface for Messenger too, making using Messenger a little easier on the eyes, especially at night. Dark Mode can also save battery on OLED displays — as OLED displays light specific pixels, and when a lot of black is shown, the display doesn’t have to light as much of the display. Facebook is also expected to make Messenger a little more secure after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook, in general, would place a heavier emphasis on security.
Facebook is rolling out the new messaging reply feature to Facebook Messenger on Wednesday, and it’s coming to both iOS and Android. If you can’t see the new feature yet, you may have to sit tight — Facebook regularly rolls out updates in waves.
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