Facebook announced a new look for its mobile messaging app that aims to offer more than just a simple list of recent conversations.
While the list of recent conversations will remain at the top of the screen, they’ll now be followed by new sections showing your Favorite contacts, friends’ birthdays, and an “Active Now” section.
According to Facebook, the latter area will help users see who’s currently online by placing a green dot next to the friend’s name, as you’re familiar with from the desktop site’s chat sidebar. And you can tap a “See All” link to see everyone available via chat.
Meanwhile, the Favorites section will highlight those you message with the most, Facebook says, and is meant to act as a shortcut to starting new conversations with those friends
All the new sections are able to be accessed by pressing a new “Home” button to the left of Calls, Groups, People and Me in the bottom navigation.
Facebook says it’s making these changes to make it “simpler and easier” for users to start conversations.
but unfortunately, the company didn’t give an indication of when the update would be rolling out, so it’s likely going live for everyone now.