A Facebook Messenger redesign is coming this year, according to the company's head of messaging products, David Marcus.
Marcus revealed the plan in a lengthy post that detailed many other things that Messenger users can expect from the app in 2018.
Facebook Messenger 'Too Cluttered,' Needs To Be Simplified
David Marcus, on a Facebook note, said that the Messenger team will look to further improve the app's capabilities and the experience that it provides over the course of 2018.
One of the biggest plans by Marcus stems from his admission that Messenger has become "too cluttered." He noted that while Facebook created and added more features to the communications app, it was at the expense of the ease in usage of Messenger.
Marcus claimed that his team will be investing in "massively simplifying and streamlining Messenger this year." What exactly the redesign entails is not yet known, though further details will likely be announced as soon as they are available.
One possible idea on the Messenger redesign is actually already available as an app. Facebook launched Messenger Lite for Android in the United States last year, which offers the core messaging features of the app and drops everything else, including video calls, selfie lenses, and games. Perhaps Marcus and his team can start by releasing Messenger Lite for iOS?
In the rest of the post, Marcus discussed additional visual messaging options and group chat features, as well as new ways for interacting with businesses. Facebook also continues to make investments in real-time communication technologies such as voice calls and video chat.
What's Up Next For Facebook
The upcoming redesign for Messenger is not the only recent news involving Facebook's communications app. The company also launched Messenger Kids last month, an app that allows parents to monitor who their children talk to. Children will not need to create their own Facebook account, but they will have their own profiles on Messenger Kids.
Facebook itself is also undergoing changes, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network will overhaul how content is displayed on the News Feeds of users. This means that users will soon start seeing more posts from their family and friends, and less public content.
Zuckerberg noted that this will make the time people spend on Facebook "more meaningful," as it will reduce the public content that has recently crowded News Feeds and has made it harder for users to stay connected with the people that matter to them.
