After Google revealed Material Design in 2014, a myriad of developers rushed to keep up with the company's design standard when creating games and apps.
A notable player who bluntly refused to implement the aesthetical upgrades was Facebook, as shown by the social media company's stubbornness to ignore Material Design as if it did not exist.
Mark Zuckerberg's brainchild seemed content to having its Android app stuck in a dated, unfriendly design, refusing to implement the cohesive design language that Google crafted to improve the user's experience.
According to a Reddit leak, however, this is about to change.
A Reddit user that goes by the username "Unfasten" claims that he received a new Material version of the Facebook Messenger app. While it is far from being completely overhauled, the app shows visible improvements. For one thing, it now has a floating action button (FAB), allowing users to compose messages with ease.
By tapping the FAB, a number of option-bubbles pop up, giving the user a series of options. From search to adding a contact and from create a discussion group to making a call, the FAB packs it all.
It should be noted that another difference exist in the Material Design version of Facebook's Messenger app: to turn the Chat Heads feature on, users will no longer activate a check box, but a toggle.
Facebook's visually appealing variant of its app is in short supply at the moment, as it seems that only a few users have access to it. However, the tech giant might be just testing the waters now, and we might see the unified coherent interface become the norm for the social media's app in the future.
Other Reddit users asked what must be done to receive the variant of Facebook Messenger that sports Material Design.
"I am not in the Facebook Messenger Play Store beta or any other beta program. I got it without updating the app through the Play Store. I think it is a server side update," user Unfasten pointed out.
The user base that would benefit from the changes is nothing short of huge, as Facebook attracted a hefty number of users to its Messenger app. Facebook Messenger recorded a tremendous year-over-year increase of 31 percent since 2014, the year when it launched.
In 2015, the introduction of video chat technology, nicknames and emojis boosted its popularity so much that at the end of last year, Facebook reported having 800 million people use its Messenger app. If it keeps improving, it will likely gain even more users.
