Facebook Messenger is being rolled out to iOS and Android devices, and many users aren’t too happy with it. As a result, they’re already looking for ways to send messages to their friends on Facebook without using the Facebook messenger app. This post will tell you how to do just that.
Facebook Messenger forces new version download
Users of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s app are gradually finding themselves forced to download the new standalone messaging app in order to keep sending messages through the social network. In addition to being annoyed by the requirement to download a second app to keep messaging through Facebook, those who take time to read the list of things the new Facebook Messenger app wants permission to access are appalled.
The app requests access to users’ contacts, text messages microphone, camera, location and even more. It’s certainly a much longer list than the items some other messaging apps ask for access to. Of course compared to SnapChat, there isn’t a huge difference, but that hasn’t left thousands of Facebook Messenger users from bombarding the app with negative reviews in the iOS App Store and the Google Play store.
Facebook defends Facebook Messenger
Facebook said that even though it requests permission to access all of these things, its intents aren’t as ominous as they sound. For example, the social network said that the only thing it takes from the text messages it reads is the phone numbers so that it can confirm them. And asking for permission to a phone’s microphone makes sense because Facebook Messenger can record audio while the user is recording a video, notes The New York Times.
A review of the Messenger help pages doesn’t really say why the app wants permission to everything it requests, although part of the problem is probably Android because of how it handles permissions for apps. And aside from the privacy concerns, some say the new Facebook Messenger app sucks the battery life out of most smartphones.
How to send Facebook messages without Facebook Messenger
So if you’re one of those who are unhappy with the new Facebook Messenger app, there’s no need to worry. There is a very simple workaround you can try to still send Facebook messages without using the app. In fact, you may even have thought of it already, and if you haven’t, you’ll probably say to yourself, “Well, duh.” At any rate, it’s as simple as just using Facebook through the browser in your mobile device.
It works the same as the site on PCs (go to http://m.facebook.com), except that it doesn’t require users to download the Facebook Messenger app. Of course not everyone will want to deal with the annoyance of this because the site isn’t as easy to use on mobile devices and therefore is less streamlined. However, there’s nothing to learn by doing it this way because the experience is the same.
