While Facebook first announced at Microsoft’s Windows 10 Devices event in October that it was working on Universal Windows 10 apps for Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, the social network has yet to deliver all the goodies to all enthusiast Windows 10 fans. Last month, we obtained some leaked images of the new Facebook Messenger app for Windows 10, which is still in closed beta, but today we were able to download and install the app without being in the beta. Others have not been able to access it yet, however.
We were able to successfully download the app on one of our Windows 10 PCs and we just spent some time playing with it. Long story short, it feels very much like the Instagram beta app on Windows 10 Mobile which is nothing more than an iOS port. In our brief testing with the Facebook Messenger app on Windows 10, we saw that the app uses an adaptable layout and all the features (including notifications) worked reliably. It seems that the only big feature missing here but available on the iOS and Android apps are voice and video calls. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good experience overall. Please find the detailed features of the app along some screenshots below:
- Get notifications so you never miss a message
- See when you have messages waiting for you with a live tile
- Send photos, videos, GIFs and more
- Bring your conversations to life with stickers
- Know when people have seen your messages
- Create groups for the people you message most—name them and set group photos
- Forward messages or photos to people who weren’t in the conversation
- Search for people and groups to quickly get back to them
While it’s great to finally be able to play with the app, Facebook has yet to reveal when it will make the Messenger Beta app available to all Windows 10 users. We’ll continue to play with it and we will tell you if we spot anything unusual. Did some of you already get the chance to download and use the app? Please share your experience with us in the comments!
