Facebook’s plans to pivot into private messaging now have a desktop software component. The company said today that it would bring Messenger, its popular messaging client, to Mac and Windows later this year. Facebook made the announcement at its F8 developer conference in San Jose, California.
There are far more mobile phones in the world than desktop computers, and the pace of development for computers has slowed accordingly. But for office workers who spend most of their days using a Mac or PC, messaging is a core function, and a dedicated messaging app could keep them inside Facebook’s ecosystem for hours a day.
The desktop version of Messenger will include audio calls, group video calls, and other features that are familiar from the mobile version. It’s likely based on Messenger.com, a web-based version of Facebook Messenger that has long been a faster alternative to using Messenger from Facebook’s web interface.