Facebook Messenger will drop support for sending SMS messages over a cellular network soon. The Meta-owned messaging platform introduced SMS integration on Android smartphones in 2016 and allowed users to view text messages alongside messages from Facebook users in a single app. Currently, SMS text messages appear in purple, and Messenger conversations are shown in blue on the app. However, soon this integration will be dropped, months after it was revealed that the message inbox feature was returning to the Facebook app.
A Facebook Messenger support page has revealed that Meta will drop support for SMS messages on the Messenger app on Android on September 28. The company has said that the change will appear once users update the app. According to the details shared by the company, users will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent over cellular networks. Instead, they can do so through the phone’s default messaging app
Meta also adds that if users do not choose their new default messaging app, SMS messages will automatically be saved in the Google Messages app. While the cellular SMS appears in purple, the Facebook Messenger conversations are shown in blue in the app. Users can manually switch to another application such as Google Messages or their smartphone maker’s SMS app (such as the one provided by Samsung) before September 28.
Messenger’s SMS integration was introduced by Facebook in 2016 to rival Apple’s iMessage and Google Android Messages across mobile phones. Users who set Facebook Messenger as their default app were able to view SMS alongside messages sent by their Facebook friends in the app.
The updated support document comes months after Meta announced the return of the message inbox feature to the Facebook app. The platform started testing the feature earlier this in March by enabling users to share content through messages on Facebook without having to switch to the Messenger app. At the time Meta stated that over 140 billion messages are sent across the company’s messaging apps every day.