When it comes to messenger apps with a massive number of active users, Facebook Messenger is second only to WhatsApp (that other app Facebook owns). While WhatsApp is basically inescapable for many users, Facebook Messenger is usually used to stay in touch with people you might not find in your phonebook. That’s a different subset of your connections, but still just as important.
We previously told you about all the glorious WhatsApp tips and tricks. Today we’ll be doing the same for Facebook Messenger.
1. Mute All or Specific Chat Notifications
We all need a break from time to time. If you’re tired of all the buzzing, you can completely turn off Notifications for Facebook Messenger.
To do that, exit the Messenger app, go to the “Settings” app, select “Notifications” and find “Messenger” from the list. Now you can just turn off all notifications from here or just turn off sounds, badge icons, anything you like.
IF you just want to turn off notifications for a specific chat, swipe left on it from the app’s homescreen and select “Mute”. You can either mute it for 15 minutes, or for a day or until you manually turn it back on.
You can also Mute the entire app’s notifications for a while by going to “Notifications” under “Settings” and enabling the “Mute” option. Then select the duration you want.
2. Block Someone
To block someone, open the conversation and tap their name on the top. Scroll down on the next screen and tap “Block”.
On the next screen you can either select to just block the person’s messages or block them directly on Facebook.
3. BIG LIKE
There’s a good party trick. Tap and hold that “Like” button to see it wriggle, make a cute noise, expand and finally pop like a balloon because you didn’t release your finger at the right moment.
But if you do release your finger at the right moment, you’ll end up sending a HUGE Like. You can also send a medium Like.
That animation effect, by the way, is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s just so well done. And satisfying.
4. Customize Conversation Colors, Emojis and Give Your Friend a Nickname
Talking about the Like, there’s a way to change the default emoji for a particular conversation to something else. Tap the person’s name at the top and tap “Emoji”. From the same screen, select “color” to change the conversation color.
If you use Messenger a lot, this can be a great way to quickly differentiate your most used chats.
Oh and you can be cute and totally give a nickname to any of your chats from the same screen by tapping “Nicknames”.
5. Send Selfies (And Attach Media) Without Ever Leaving the Conversation
Want to send a selfie to the person you’re chatting to? Not only do you need to go to another app, but you also don’t need to close the current chat. Tap the “Camera” button above the keyboard and a camera view will show up. Click your photo and send it off.
This works the same way for selecting a photo from the gallery as well.
Sending multiple photos to a chat is bit tricky. First select the “Media” button (highlighted in the screenshot below) and instead is selecting one image, tap the “grid” icon you’ll is in the bottom-left corner. Now from the next screen, tap all the photos you want to send, and tap “Send”.
6. Create Groups
Creating groups is pretty easy. Go to the Groups tab, tap the “+ icon in the top-right corner, select the contacts you want to add to the said group, give it a name (even an image if you want), and tap “Create”. And voila! you’re now chatting with a group.
7. Organizing and Pinning Group Chats
If your (extended) family is on Facebook, you’re undoubtedly part of many Messenger group chats. Go to the “Groups” tab to view all your current group chats. I’ll admit, this screen is a bit weird. It’s not exactly a list of all your group chats and it’s not even something you selected to be shown here.
When you start a new group it will show up at the end of the screen. You can then tap the three dotted menu button to “Unpin” the chat from this screen. But then I wasn’t able to find a way to bring the chat back. So maybe you shouldn’t “unpin” chats you don’t want back.
Basically, the Groups screen can be a good way to directly jump to your favorite group chats. You can tap and hold on a group chat to move it around and change the layout.
8. Hide Private Information From Notifications
By default, Facebook Messenger shows notifications with message text on the lockscreen. If you’d rather hide the text from notifications, go to “Settings” tab, select “Notifications”, and then turn off the “Show Previews” option.
9. Send Money to Your Friends
This is only limited to the US but as long as you have a card linked to your Messenger account, you can send money to your friends quite easily. If you’re in the supported region, a “Dollar” sign will show up in the toolbar. Tap it, enter the amount you want to send to the friend and it’s done. More details are available here.
10. Share Location
You can quickly share your current location or places near you by tapping the “Location” icon in the toolbar (it has the familiar location pin icon).
11. Use Facebook Messenger Apps (GIFs, Videos, EVERYTHING!)
You’ll see a little three dotted button at the end of the toolbar, right next to the Send button. Tap it and Facebook Messenger will show you a list of apps specifically made to interact with Messenger. You’ll find all sorts of crazy and fun apps here. For creating GIFs, videos and all sorts of fun stuff. Of course, you’ll need to download these apps to be able to use them. But once downloaded, they integrate seamlessly with Messenger.
12. Chat With Bots
Facebook is making a big push when it comes to chatbots. Here’s a quick summary of a chatbot. It’s (usually) a pre-programmed bot that you can interact with in some limited fashion using text and buttons. It’s a new way to interact with computers and we’re still trying to figure it out. But companies are already building great bots for catching up on news, checking the weather, booking flights and a lot more.
There’s currently no way to search for bots and add them directly to Messenger. You’ll need to find bots on your own, on the web, and the add them to Messenger.
13. Share Stuff Directly to Facebook Messenger From Any App
If you didn’t already know, it’s really easy to share any kind of content – links, images, videos from any app that supports iOS’s Share feature directly into a Messenger conversation.
To do this, select the stuff you want to share from a supported app and tap the “Share” button. Now, if you’ve already enabled it, you’ll see the Messenger icon in the top bar. If it’s not there, scroll to the end and select “More”. From this list, enable “Messenger”.
Now tap “Messenger” and a screen asking you to type a message along with the added media and a screen to select contacts will show up. You can select multiple contacts to share the content with.
14. Make Voice Calls and Group Voice Calls
It’s surprising but for me, Facebook Messenger’s voice call feature has been the most reliable way to call my friends over the internet (yeah, better than WhatsApp, Hangouts and Skype). It has worked well over spotty Wi-Fi and even when I was on 2G.
Open the conversation and tap the “Phone” button in top right to make a voice call or the “Video” button to make a video call. You can also make voice calls to everyone in a group conversation at once using the same method.
Or you can just go to the “Calls” tab to view your call history and to quickly call someone.
15. Use Facebook Messenger Without Signing Up for Facebook
If you don’t want to have a Facebook account, you can still use Facebook Messenger to talk with people, businesses and bots. When logging in, tap the “Not on Facebook?” button and sign up to Messenger using your phone number instead.
16. Play Secret Games
https://twitter.com/NickatFP/status/716979797910364160
Every now and then we learn about secret stuff that Facebook Messenger can do. You can play a basketball game in a conversation just by typing the basketball emoji and play chess by typing @fbchess.
17. Take an Uber
If you’re in the supported country, you can hail an Uber right from Messenger. Tap the “…” button beside the Like button, select “Transportation” and sign in to your account.
Once that’s done, tap on an address in a chat (it will be underlined) and choose “Request a Ride”. You’ll now get updates to your ride in the same conversation.
What’s Your Favorite Messenger Trick?
Share your favorite Messenger tips and tricks with us in the comments below.
- Facebook Messenger – Download link
