Even iChat used to be able to manage quite a few messaging apps, including Gchat, AOL and a bunch of others if I recall. I really wish there was an open standard for messaging instead of everyone trying lock you into a silo. I guess the closest we have now is SMS, as insecure and crappy as it is?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Facebook Messenger to Launch on Mac Later This Year
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Even iChat used to be able to manage quite a few messaging apps, including Gchat, AOL and a bunch of others if I recall. I really wish there was an open standard for messaging instead of everyone trying lock you into a silo. I guess the closest we have now is SMS, as insecure and crappy as it is?
Mind you, I don't want anything to do with Messenger, but it's basically unavoidable. - It's the only way to coordinate things with my uni course mates essentially. Just because it's a platform everybody is on. You can talk to some over Discord, some over Skype and so forth, but if you want to reach everyone on the team, you write a Facebook post. If you want to coordinate with your study group, you use Messenger.
Advantage to using the nativefier approach here, is that the "app" is just a containerised web page. It's isolated from my regular browsing since it's a different "app", yet it doesn't really get any system hooks since it's essentially just the web page packaged in app form.
People I know who are on Android just get communicated with via my Messages app with everyone else -- everyone is in one app. They can still be incorporated into group texts, and they can still send and receive photos and other attachments. It's just way more seamless to have everything in one place, synced across all my devices the way Messages works.
Maybe I'm lucky in that most people I know are pretty Facebook-averse (or there are enough of us to jam the gears) and thus communications revert to text or email -- which both work just fine, thanks.
Adium was bloody good though. I mean, iChat was cool too, but Adium could hook into everything. I used it with MSN, Facebook Messenger, AOL, and I think two other servies that I'm not really sure about, because I forgot all the accounts and wooha and just opened Adium.
And it was so cool - You could customise the Dock icon from within the app - I had a black duck... It was cute. i miss that duck.
Wasn't there one YEARS ago? So all that's old is new again?
So glad we have so much innovation in tech lately
So glad we have so much innovation in tech lately
That works if you have their numbers and/or email addresses. Nobody ever shared that at uni or anything. Basically from the start someone just made a closed Facebook group and told people to sign up, and that was that. And it works, so nobody is looking to find alternatives regardless of how crap Facebook is. And if you recommend an alternative you're met with opposition because "Can't we just stick with this? It works and we don't want to migrate".
Great! That spying app that requires to be updated every 5 days on iOS is now coming to macOS! I’m excited!
Facebook will launch a new desktop app for Messenger on both macOS and Windows later this year, according to a since-deleted blog post
And there’s your proof that macOS isn’t immune to malware, if it can run Facebook Messenger.
Actually, while I rarely use it, it has advantages over Signal and WhatsApp, in that it can be used on all of my devices at the same time. Signal and WhatsApp do not let me install on more than one device (as far as I can tell). Telegram does, but then one just switches Facebook’s snooping for the Russian government’s snooping.
This is an app developed and distributed by Facebook, not Apple. Apple is not installing this onto your Mac without your consent. You'd need to install it like any other app.
I’m not entirely sure I understand Mac App Store apps.
Are they like iOS apps, meaning that are sandboxed? And can’t access other system information? Do they have follow the enable/disable checkbox, such as location, in the Privacy section of Sytem Preferences?
Are they like iOS apps, meaning that are sandboxed? And can’t access other system information? Do they have follow the enable/disable checkbox, such as location, in the Privacy section of Sytem Preferences?
There are circles where it is important. Facebook is very popular among Asians. My partner is Filipino, so she uses it to stay connected with her family. And we own an Asian Grocery store, and Facebook is our primary marketing and communication tool with customers. Otherwise, I'd very much *not* have it installed.
...just grant access to your camera/mic and every mac becomes an always-on always-listening FB Portal
There are different levels of protection on the Mac. But yes, some of them can be fully sandboxed and protected by the OS security measures.
Fun Fact - iOS is a subset of the Mac. They share a lot of common libraries. Those libraries started on Mac first. iOS has since matured and now the tables are turning where the Mac is gaining some iOS features and libraries. We see that with the ability of the Mac to run some iOS apps developed to also run on the Mac. The recently-released Apple News app is one such example.
So the company that used the phone number your entered for two factor authentication for advertising wants to install an application on my computer? Let me get right on that.
This is not something Apple is adding. Facebook is releasing this for the Mac. Apple has nothing to do with this.
Your selective edits in the name make the service sound much more exciting than it really is...
Where do I sign up?
There are many options, but only Messenger can actually replace SMS because everyone you know uses it.
Looks good! Can't wait to lean into Messenger even more.
Users with deep knowledge of macOS are familiar with its modern security settings that asks for a users permissions to access all areas of the system just like iOS.
Users with deep knowledge of macOS are familiar with its modern security settings that asks for a users permissions to access all areas of the system just like iOS.