Why do you not use Facebook's Messenger app?

Because I don’t use Facebook

I don’t have a smart phone.

I use Facebook, but who needs another messaging app? I use one for work (Skype), one for personal (my Android phone’s SMS), Google Voice messaging, and occasionally Hangouts, although that’s going away.

So there’s no compelling reason to have yet another app that does basically the same thing.

I think I did download that @HJ, but I think I kept getting notifications and things on my phone. I think it was distracting. I can’t really remember what was annoying me about it, but I know I logged out. I still have it, but I haven’t used it for a while. (Did my car arrive yet? I’m seriously disappointed in the NZ postal system).

Because I can.

Also, it’s annoying.

I was reluctant, because I’m afraid of apps in general. I feel like every time I download an app another entity has my info. Plus, the app takes memory space I think.

I did eventually download messenger when I started using my phone much more for Facebook. For years I only used Facebook on the full site. It’s annoying to me to have to switch apps to message a friend on Facebook.

I just downloaded WhatsApp. Took me two years to finally do it. Making a new friend here from Scotland, who will be going home in a couple of days, pushed me over the edge. That’s what she uses with many of her friends. I had been using Skype for international calls.

Jusy FYI @JLeslie, you can access the Messenger app from FB itself, so you don’t have to go out of one to use the other, it’s conveniently arranged for you. Hope that helps. :-)

I had a conversation about this with my college age son last week. He saw me texting via my phone’s message app, and said most kids his age send messages using Facebook messenger.

He wanted to know why I didn’t. I said because well over half the people I text are not Facebook friends (like him, his sister, and their mother). Plus, the phone’s message app is on the front screen and convenient operand doesn’t chew up my data usage.

He noted the Facebook message app is a lot better for sending group texts. I rarely do that, so not an aspect I use to select the app.

I only used WhatsApp when I was in Europe, would never use it in the U.S.

So, @Hawaii_Jake there are the pros and cons.

I use Viber for my family. It works really well for us.

I use it to talk to a friend of mine in England. It’s great.

because facebook is of the devil! The Devil!

I had it for about a month and then I got rid of it. I forgot what made me ditch it but if someone has something important to tell me, they text it to me. Any messages I get on FB I wait till I’m in front of a computer (at home or work) to read them.

I have a friend who uses Messenger for all his messaging, including texts that normally go through the phone’s Wireless Service Provider. He has a good data plan, so he’s not worried about how much data he’s using.

He showed me the screen, and it’s obvious which are texts and which are messages over the Messenger app. It’s quite simple to tell the difference. I am considering taking the plunge and using Messenger in this way for all my messages. I’m on Google’s Project Fi, so my data is extremely cheap.

My question is WHY THE FUCK DOES FACEBOOK NEED AN APP FOR THIS?? Why in the seven hells can’t you just use the normal FB messenger feature to chat without it being a goddamn fuckin project? Even on my tablet using the built in feature is garbage, it logs me out, sends me to the Play Store and then tells me to add contacts who have had the app for 7 billion years already. On my PlayStation 4, when I try to type into the built in feature it darts me all over the place, clicks on other posts or doesn’t even let me enter my fuckin message at all once I actually work that crap out!

K fine you need a separate app to do shit that the site already did as a basic? FINE. But let the original feature work normally. I’ll tell you WHY I use the app, BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE A ZOUNDED CHOICE! What’s the problem with just logging on to Facebook? Isn’t that all people fuckin even DO anyway?

Sorry. Flag as thou dost see fit. I own no smartphone, I cannot feel anyone elses’ pain about data and shit.

Lol @Berserker. You’re going a bit berserk there mate!

Sorry. I miss the times when the internet had web rings and Sailormoon fan pages.

There’s nothing FB can do that can’t be done by a carefully placed blow from a battleaxe and a mace!

No axe or mace for me, I just use my fuckin teeth.

Takes up needed storage on my phone for more important app’s

I don’t do fb, or have a smart phone reason enough.

My experience was much the same as @Berserker.‘s
I got knocked around, stupid stuff was thrown in my face. Then, it folded on me, didn’t recognize me. Extracting it was a B.

I don’t have that many friends on Facebook to warrant using it enough. Not to mention it’s very inconvienent if you just want to send a quick message to someone but it forces you to install the app.

I’m with @Berserker. The app is fine but I just wish they also kept the built in message feature of the site itself.

What? It doesn’t seem hard to me to send a message using the FB web page.

I was offered the FB app on mobile devices a couple of times, and said yes a couple of times, but then I barely used it and it quickly died on my device due to me not updating it and/or not bothering to keep telling it my password or something. It seemed to add zero value that I could see and was yet another annoying app to update and learn and deal with on a mobile device. I probably uninstalled it but I don’t know because I kind of despise things that are annoying on mobile devices. I don’t like Facebook much and limit my use of it to occasional binges. I rarely use it to send messages, and would always choose to use the web page on a computer rather than try to learn how to do it on a mobile app.

@canidmajor I know. In general I prefer full sites. In my phone I can’t f**king get to a full site half the time when I want to because “it” whatever it is at the time, automatically sends me to the mobile site, and I can’t easily (sometimes can’t ever) find how to get to the full site. I appreciate that mobile sites and apps are made for the mobile screen, but sometimes they don’t give the whole picture.

I’ve never liked that on iPad and iPhones you have to switch entire screens, often having to go back to home screen. Over and over I hear Apple is user friendly and intuitive, but it never was for me. True I can go back and forth between messenger and Facebook, but I often forget, because everything else in that phone I have to go back to home. For me, visually, I’d rather have messenger not completely fill the screen, and be able to open and close it with it being on top of Facebook. I also would liked to have not had to download a new app. Like I said, I’m reluctant about apps. I guess there is a reason why the app was created, some sort of techy reason.

Going back to iPhone, I’m not saying I have a better solution regarding going to home screen, because phones are so small, but on iPad I would have liked to be able to have more than one app open at a time and not have to push a button to get to the other app. Maybe the iPads do that now?

Facebook’s messenger app was caught violating user’s trust by running in the background even when it was explicitly disabled by the user back in 2015. I don’t trust Facebook after that. I have the main Facebook app on my phone, but it’s unfortunately somewhat necessary because we need a Facebook presence for our business.

@gorillapaws Thanks for mentioning that. I checked mine just now and it shows Disabled and no activity, but I deeply resent that there is NO REMOVE OPTION for it.

Oh but I do, I mean, not a helluva lot but still…

It takes up storage and it feels intrusive. If someone needs to get a hold of me they have my cell number.