Facebook announced yesterday that users interested in using Messenger (the company’s companion messaging app) now no longer need to have a Facebook account to access it; all that’s required is a phone number.
The social network confirmed the roll-out of an updated Messenger through its blog, stating that”If you’re in Canada, the United States, Peru or Venezuela, we are starting to roll out a new way for you to sign up for Messenger – without a Facebook account.”
Users new to the service – and without a Facebook account – will be guided to a form – where once they have confirmed their phone number – will be able to upload their contact library to find friends also using the service.
Users signing up without a Facebook account will still be able to enjoy the full breadth of the service’s features, such as image and video sharing, group chats, VoIP calling as well as chat stickers and smileys.
However, such users will instead be deprived of cross-platform syncing through a Facebook account, and will be unable to see their Facebook friend’s contacts.
The move comes as part of Facebook’s broader strategy to integrate its services into what the social network dubs the ‘Messenger Platform’; a station through which users can navigate the internet and find information to them similarly to Google Now.
Earlier this year, at Facebook’s F8 conference, the firm announced that Messenger would soon support new features – such as the ability to transfer money or track a dispatched parcel – and would soon arrive with a software development kit for interested developers.
Opening Messenger to a wider audience – indeed, those without the formerly pivotal Facebook account – broadens the service’s reach and enables it to compete more ably with the likes of Line or WeChat.
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