Facebook Messenger Updated With Read Receipts, Location, Typing Indicator

The official Facebook Messenger app for iPhone was updated today, reaching version 1.7. The new version, first reported by 9to5mac earlier this week, adds a number of optimizations and new features to the standalone messaging client, including read receipts, location information for messages, and a typing indicator.

Similarly to Apple’s iMessage, the app now displays a read receipt under each message to indicate whether the person you have written to has “seen” or ignored a message. But unlike Apple’s solution, Facebook Messenger now attaches location data to single messages as well, associating each text – with the user’s consent regulated through the standard iOS location controls – with a city or area. This, combined with read receipts and a typing indicator (that, however, did not work in our tests) should contribute to making Facebook Messenger more “personal” and “contextual” than standard SMS. To further showcase the interconnected and multi-platform nature of Facebook – which now boasts over 480 million monthly mobile users – the company is now also showing the device that generated a message within the conversation: for instance, a message sent from an iPhone will have a mobile device icon next to it.

Facebook Messenger is capable of sending messages anywhere – web, desktop, mobile – as long as the recipient has a Facebook account, although according to the company today’s updates are “mobile first”.

Facebook Messenger 1.7 is out now on the App Store.