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Tag: Chat Heads

  • Facebook Messenger Gets Video Chat Heads

    Facebook Messenger Gets Video Chat Heads

    Facebook introduced Chat Heads for Messenger a few years ago. These are images of your friends that appear on your device when you get a Facebook message from them. They appear regardless of what app you’re currently using. The feature is optional.

    Facebook announced Video Chat Heads for Messenger on Monday.

    In a post on the Messenger page, the company said, “With Video Chat Heads, you can talk to your friends from a smaller chat head instead of using your full phone screen. This allows you to continue a video call while you’re messaging other people, or – on Android – even while you are using other apps.”

    This way you don’t have to completely pay attention to the person you’re talking to face to face. How convenient!

    The feature will be available for both iOS and Android users around the world in the coming days.

    Last week, Facebook announced some additional new feature for Messenger including Messenger Codes, Usernames, and Links with a m.me[youusername] URL for people and businesses. It also announced that Messenger has surpassed 900 million monthly active users.

    Image via Facebook

  • Facebook for iOS Gets Chat Heads, News Feed Updates

    Later today, Facebook will unveil an update for their iOS app that brings chat heads, stickers, and news feed improvements.

    First up, iOS users will be able to use chat heads – one of the main features of Facebook Home for Android. Of course, these chat heads won’t work on your iOS home screen, only when you’re using the Facebook app. But it will let you keep multiple conversations going much easier when you’re inside the app.

    As with chat heads on Android, you simply tap them to open up the chat thread, and drag them around and place them wherever you want on the screen.

    Last week, on the same day Facebook unveiled Facebook Home for Android, they also brought chat heads to Facebook Messenger for Android – you know, to throw Android users with device not supported by Facebook Home a bone.

    The update also brings stickers to the iOS app.

    Also, we’re finally getting those changes to the news feed on mobile that Facebook announced but is still slowly rolling out on desktop. According to Facebook, the biggest changes will be seen on the iPad, “where you’ll see brighter, more beautiful stories.”

    Facebook says that the update will be ready to download later today in the App Store.

  • Facebook Home Now Available to Download in the Google Play Store

    Facebook Home, Facebook’s attempt to make your Android homescreen all about Facebook, is now live in the Google Play Store.

    As of right now, you can only download Facebook Home if you have one of these four Android devices: HTC One X, HTC One X+, the Samsung Galaxy S III or the Samsung Galaxy Note II. In the future, the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4 will also allow for Facebook Home.

    And then, of course, there’s the HTC First – the first phone to launch with Facebook Home ready to go. Don’t want to call it a “Facebook Phone” – then don’t. But it’s definitely the first Facebook centric phone on the market. It also hits the shelves today.

    “Facebook Home is the mobile experience that puts your friends at the heart of your phone. From the moment you turn it on, you see a steady stream of friends’ posts and photos on your home screen. Upfront notifications and quick access to your essentials mean you’ll never miss a moment. And when you download Facebook Messenger, you can keep chatting with friends when you’re using other apps,” says Facebook.

    And about those chat heads that let you “keep chatting with friends when you’re using other apps.” If you have an Android phone, want to download Facebook Home, but alas, your Android phone isn’t supported – all is not lost. Today, ahead of the Facebook Home launch, Facebook added chat heads as a part of the Facebook Messenger app for Android. Now you can make use of/be incredibly annoyed by chat heads no matter which Android device you own, depending on how you look at it.

  • Chat Heads From Facebook Home Now Part Of Facebook Messenger

    Facebook unveiled Facebook Home for Android last week, as I’m sure you recall. There was a lot of press about: the product, what it means for Facebook’s mobile strategy, the Eminem song Facebook used in a video for it, etc.

    One of the key features of Facebook Home is something called “Chat Heads”. These are images of your friends that appear on your device when you get a Facebook message (or text message) from them. They come up regardless of what app you’re currently using. They infiltrate the greater Android experience to inform you that your Facebook friend has something to tell you, regardless of whether or not you’re currently using Facebook (and assuming the standard notification wasn’t enough).

    But Facebook Home is only available for a handful of devices. Lots of Android devices have access to the Facebook Messenger app, however. In fact, lots of Android device-owning Facebook users already have the app installed. That app just got updated, and guess what’s listed in the “What’s New” section:

    – Keep chatting even when you’re using other apps. Just tap the chat head to reply, drag down to close.
    – Bug fixes.

    Sure enough, it works just like that aspect of Facebook Home. You know don’t have to have Facebook Home to have your friends’ messages intrude on whatever you’re doing on your device. Now, you can just have Facebook Messenger, and enjoy the same effect.

    Well played, Facebook.