Facebook Messenger App Redesign Already Appearing For Some Users

In May, Facebook said that it would introduce a major redesign to the standalone Messenger app for iOS and Android devices. Now, it looks like the redesign for Messenger has begun appearing for some users.

Screenshots of the redesigned Facebook Messenger app was shared to Android Police by one of its tipsters. According to the user who submitted the screenshots, the redesign to the app just appeared out of nowhere and it didn’t require an app update. This means that this is a server-side change and it might already be appearing to even more users right now.

The redesigned Facebook Messenger app appears to be focusing on simplifying the user interface and making it easier and faster for users to contact other people. The bottom bar only has three tabs, while the camera and new chat buttons are now located at the top right-hand corner of the app. The three tabs at the bottom are for messages, contacts and the Discover tab.

The search bar sits just below the user’s profile icon, while the scrollable carousel for Messenger Stories is still on top of the recent messages. Some of the Messenger app’s other features, like games, can only be accessed by opening the Discover tab.

The chat screen where message threads are located has also been given a bit of an updated look. Custom colors are still present, but the entire user interface looks a lot cleaner. The iconography appears to have been refreshed to make it look a bit more expressive, as pointed out by Phone Arena. The new look of the chat screen is a little reminiscent of the redesigned Skype app.

Unfortunately, the user who shared the screenshots didn’t show off the new dark mode feature. During Facebook’s F8 conference in May, the company shared a single image depicting what dark mode will look like in the Messenger app. It looked quite sleek and it will most likely look best on smartphones that are equipped with OLED displays.

The redesign to the Facebook Messenger app may already be in the process of being rolled out. Users won’t have to do anything to get the redesign as it will just appear by itself since the changes are being applied by Facebook itself. In the meantime, users should just make sure they are using the latest version of the Messenger app.