Facebook Messenger Gets Artsy New Camera

facebook-messenger-gets-artsy-new-camera photo 1

Facebook's Messenger app has a new built-in camera, but as you'd expect of a new app feature from the world's largest social network, it doesn't just take photos.

There are thousands of stickers, frames, masks, and other effects to spruce up your plain text messages, some of which are in 3D. The idea, Facebook explained in a blog post, is to think of the new camera bling as a replacement of sorts for the boring old text keyboard.

"We've seen that the way people are messaging is becoming much more visual," Facebook wrote. "In some ways the camera is now replacing the keyboard."

The company says that people already send 2.5 billion emoji, photos, stickers, and videos every day on Messenger. But doing so requires a conscious effort to avoid the keyboard: Messenger's original camera brought picture-in-picture video calls to the app via a video panel that floats over the active text conversation, which you can continue while you're streaming. Introduced in September, it was clearly a supplement to text-based communication, not a replacement. Unlike the formality and awkwardness of a Skype or FaceTime session, video in Messenger was intended to let you quickly show off your ice cream flavor choice or new pair of heels before retreating to the comfort of texts.

Related

  • 22 Cool Tricks and Secret Gems Inside Facebook Messenger22 Cool Tricks and Secret Gems Inside Facebook Messenger

The new camera option, meanwhile, is accessible via one tap no matter what you're doing in the Messenger app. The shutter button is at the bottom center of the screen, and a short tap takes a photo, while a long press records a video. A palette button next to it launches a blank canvas ready for you to add stickers and other effects.

Redesigning Messenger's camera feature so soon after its release is likely a move to stay competitive with Apple's iMessage, which recently gained many of the same artsy features with the September unveiling of iOS 10.

More stories

How to Ship Packages Without Leaving Your House

When you mail a letter, all you have to do is slap a stamp on it and stick it in the mailbox. But shipping a package is a whole different beast. The good news, though, is that you still don’t need to leave the comfort of your home if you don’t want to. Here’s how to skip the post office entirely and

5 ways to get rid of social media bots

Many fans on social media will inevitably be a great thing for your online venture. Nevertheless, there's a need for guaranteeing their credibility. If you are...