Facebook Messenger has finally released desktop applications nearly nine years after its launch, including Mac and Windows desktop apps, which bring the same features as the browser version.
Facebook originally announced the Messenger desktop app at the F8 conference a year ago. But given that this year's conference was canceled due to a coronavirus, and users now apparently want desktop applications, it makes sense to publish them now.
The Facebook version of Facebook Messenger was discovered during testing last month. Messenger launched a Windows app back in 2011, and it has been discarded until now.
At present, the biggest disadvantage of Facebook Messenger may be that it can only handle up to 8 group video call participants, and Zoom can accommodate 100 or even 500 participants.
This means that Messenger has not been able to support some new use cases since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. It also doesn't easily share a URL that allows others to join the call, so it's not useful for public webinars or social events.
Screen sharing is another major missing feature that prevents some business use cases, as well as mobile social networking, from co-browsing albums.
Facebook's Workplace chat desktop app provides screen sharing, so it seems reasonable that Messenger could add that option in the future.
