A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
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I have not found any news article on this on a whim. Because my friends and family, I need to use Facebook Messenger, and Messenger Lite was a OK client - lightweight, no unnecessary features, etc., compared to the regular Messenger app.
Now I'm a little torn, having a Meta app on my phone is already bad, but having to downgrade to the bloated Messenger app? Not sure I will make a change. What are your thoughts?
Ever since Facebook forced the separate Messenger app, I've refused to install it. Instead, when I see a message notification, I pop into a browser, head to Facebook.com and push the desktop version. While it's clunky, I've never had to download Messenger.
Separate messaging app was the best thing they ever did. I've not had Facebook installed since.
Same. This will change nothing for me. I refuse their bullshit.
You're still using their shit, just in a very inconvenient way. In fact, you're going to their site that contains targeted ads rather than using an ad free app. What a strange hill to die on.
I have exactly one group that insists on communicating this way. Which is why this isn't a big inconvenience for me. Your point is well taken, but doesn't really apply in my case. I'm not a user of the service, which is why it's so easy for me to refuse to install it, and hopefully I can use this to pressure the group to move to discord or some other means of communication. But if not I will continue to use the desktop site rather than install an app.
https://mbasic.facebook.com/ still works. It's missing some modern niceties, but usable. That's what I use for occasional messages.
Why? I mean it's much better to have the messenger app without all the facebook BS.
Its very easy to disregard facebook in 2023, but Messenger is still one of the more prominent messaging app.
Is their messenger still a 150 MB monster that gets updated twice a day?
Yes, and they constantly change how parts of the UI work, most often getting more in the way of efficient actual messaging... It's really bad.
I'll die before I install Facebook Messenger
Same. Just have to hold out until the EU makes all messaging apps cross+operable and then I'll be able to talk to everyone again.
Careful. They could be listening.
Install Telegram (or Signal before everyone downvotes me) for your family & friends. For me most of my friends & relatives migrated to it and using for chats between themselves.
Bonus if you are good at programming and can make some very unique telegram bots that do some interesting stuff, like reporting local news.
Unfortunately FB Messenger is the defacto way to communicate in some countries - if I refused to use it I'd fail uni as I wouldn't be able to communicate with group members, I wouldn't be able to contact most of my family, and the number of friends I can talk to would drop to about 5 (of which most have recently had children and are thus a bit preoccupied)
I use Telegram every day, but without end-to-end encryption (by default and on groups), it's as private as Facebook Messenger. They can read everything. The only difference is that currently people trust them more than they trust Facebook, but everything turns to shit eventually.
If Signal is too "boring" or no one uses it in your circles, try WhatsApp. Yes, it's also from Meta, but at least comms are encrypted (same protocol as Signal) and a lot of people use it.
And they put a notification on your phone about it that you can't remove... this infuriates me more than it should
You're right, I did not even notice the persistent notification! What a unnecessarily annoying move. This deserved an early bird uninstall for me...
I swear my battery life improved after I uninstalled messenger for a while and got worse after reinstalling recently.
I wouldn't have installed it except I was in the process of getting back in touch with a few old friends. Was totally worth it for that.
I'm on the same page. I would prefer not having those apps installed or even an account, but my friends are more worth to me than my IT ideals.
It's too bad that your friendship isn't more important than ten minutes of inconvenience for them to install a different app or to give you their actual phone number.
I find that you're making a lot of assumptions on my friendships based on my 4 lines comment.
I do chat with my friends via SMS or phone cause I indeed have their number. But you can't deny that SMS for group chats is pretty gruesome.
Based on that, everybody is used to those popular chat apps and have their other group chats on them. Why would I make them change when they work for what's intended? Privacy is the best argument, but they may not all care enough to not find it bothering. So I don't bother ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You can use Beeper to replace all your communication apps. That way you only have to install one app, and you don't have to have Meta installed.
It sounds like a too good to be true situation. Definitely an interesting concept though. Sounds like they use remote servers to connect to the third-party apps using your credentials and then transcribe the messages using the Matrix protocol to the app. Source here and snippet below
Beeper consists of two main components:
- A client app that runs on your devices.
- A web service run by Beeper.
... Beeper’s web service consists of a Matrix homeserver and infrastructure to run open source bridges that connect to 15 different chat networks.
Currently free but also will be a Plus version eventually rolling out, according to the FAQ
For now, everyone has access to all the features of Beeper Plus for free. At some point in 2023, we will begin charging $5-10 per month for Beeper Plus.
Also, no humor is lost on the fact that it is dangerously close to Wuph from The Office...
This sucks.
Can't ditch it completely due to family, but got a few more contacts over on Signal after this announcement.
Why still use Facebook when we have the Internet?
Old people are there, some we care about, some have passed away...
There are a few decent communities out there too. Not many, but a few.
In many countries it's the default communication app
I can't uninstall the Facebook app from my phone (not unless I use ADB), so it's disabled. I uninstalled Messenger. I pinned a post on my FB page that said if people needed to contact me they can email me or text me. I have posted about why folks should leave these platforms until I am blue in the face. If they want to make the switch, they will. If they want to reach out, they will.
Eventually, I want to get an unlocked phone, load a custom ROM, and tell the big platforms to fuck off. I resent how difficult they have made that, and I resent how complacent we have become because of it.
Or install an app called Metal.
It's a wrapper for the mobile webpage with all the intrusive permissions disabled by default.
I just looked for this app and it looks like it hasn't been updated since 2018. Am I wrong?
Here's an idea. Stop using FB.
I get it, your boomer parents/grandparents don't know how to use anything else... But you can show them. It's very similar and doesn't suck as much.
I understand this move from FB too... Rather than maintain two apps, that both do the same thing, just maintain one. However, without the ability to turn off all the bloat and crap in the one app to make it very similar to the other, I don't see that being viable for many, and I'm sure they don't let you do that, so, ha ha, get fucked.
Anyways, Facebook is a cancer.
Just delete every meta/fb app. There are plenty of alternatives now. They will never love you.
Better idea don't install messenger at all
The main issue here is how aggressive Fuckbook is when it comes to the messager, since they started to hide it on mobile devices they fucked with every attempt to revive that functionality with a none Fuckbook apps till the creator gave up. They are bad enough with normal clients (most of those died for a reason) but somehow even worse when it comes to the messager!
Matrix with a facebook messenger bridge? I know just the one finnish instance that offers bridging (pikaviestin.fi), though. I host my own home server.
Would beeper be a better solution for you? Self-hosted beeper, and a matrix client on your phone.
I have personally made a switch to Delta Chat, and will be e-mailing people from now on. I will be checking facebook occasionally, as I face the same issue as others in this thread: Facebook is the default communication tool in my country. However, I have told everyone I'm connected with, that I no longer have a mobile app for facebook communication on my phone, and will only respond swiftly og they use e-mail or SMS. Let's see how that goes.
Well that's annoying. I only ever use it for if I'm trying to buy something off a stranger on one of those facebook market groups. Which only happens a couple of times a year.
So I guess I will have to install their big version and then uninstall it after I buy the thing.
You can use Facebook Lite instead of the main Messenger app if you want to. It's got messaging integrated into it.