The Facebook Messenger application is getting an update for Android and iOS so that users can now send voice messages up to 60 seconds long to their friends. Just a few weeks after Facebook went after Snapchat with a clone app, it’s modified Messenger to be a clone for Apple’s iMessage.
The app has popped up in both the iTunes App Store and Google Play. We’ll reserve judgement on the service until we have a chance to try it. But forcing our friends to listen to voicemails sounds painful. Isn’t the terrible impractically of voice messaging the whole reason we turned to text in the first place? [Google Play via ATD]
Update: A couple of us downloaded the Android version of the update. At first, we had trouble launching the app because it created a whole new icon, and we didn’t see the new voice feature when it launched. Uninstalling the app completely and reinstalling it solved this issue.
Now when you go to send a message, hit the “+” sign and you’ll see the option to record a message to send. The whole thing works just as you’d expect. We could see how this might be useful when you want to call someone and leave them a happy birthday voicemail and don’t want to risk actually talking on the phone with them.