Facebook is slowly beefing up the capabilities of its Messenger app as it moves to combat the rise of free VoIP apps like Whatsapp, Viber and Line. It’s taking another baby step by expanding VoIP calling to UK users of its iOS app, following its initial test of the feature in Canada in January, which was soon followed by a U.S. rollout, TechCrunch reports.
A Facebook spokeswoman commented: “From today, VOIP calling for Facebook Messenger on iOS will go live in the UK. This means that you can call friends in Facebook Messenger for free by tapping the ‘I’ button in an individual conversation and then tapping ‘Free Call’.”
Messaging apps such as Whatsapp typically offer free messaging and VoIP capabilities in all the markets where they operate so Facebook is having to do some catching up here, TechCrunch says.
The VoIP feature does not appear to have been added to Facebook Messenger’s UK app quite yet. The app store description flags up its free texting capability but does not yet mention free calls. The app was last updated on March 7 to add updates to group conversations, among other unspecified updates and bug fixes.
The lines between messaging and social networking are arguably blurring as messaging apps add capabilities that enable users to share multimedia content with groups of friends, as well as letting them call and text individuals — thereby treading directly on traditional social networking territory. Both use cases (social sharing and pure messaging) make these apps a nascent threat to Facebook’s dominance since social networking is at its core all about messaging and sharing content with chosen friends.
