Messenger’s New Shortcuts Let You Alert Everyone And No One
Facebook's Messenger is adding a bunch of convenient shortcuts that will let users send messages silently or by making some noise in group chats, something Slack users will find all too familiar. The Meta-owned platform has been on a roll lately as far as feature development goes. A few weeks ago, Messenger landed a bill-splitting feature that will let users post bill-sharing requests in the chat itself, get updates about the progress, and share receipts. Of course, it is all tied to Facebook Pay, but it’s still a neat addition.
In January, Messenger introduced a crucial privacy-centric update. The messaging platform now protects voice and video calls with end-to-end encryption, a feature that has been available on sister platform WhatsApp for a while now. Messenger used to limit some key conversation features when a chat was encrypted. That shortcoming was also addressed earlier this year, with support for sending GIFs, stickers, and message reactions. And for folks worried about the privacy of their conversations, Messenger even baked in a screenshot alert system for chats in secret mode.
Messenger is now making the next evolutionary move to improve chats, especially group conversations. Say hello to command shortcuts, a system that Slack users will feel right at home with. Messenger’s iOS and Android apps will now let users roll with the @everyone shortcut to send a message that needs to be seen by everyone in the group. Messenger makes it clear that this shortcut is for shooting reminders or calling people’s attention to urgent discussions. As general chat etiquette, it should be used with some discretion, especially if participants in a group chat happen to be scattered across different time zones.
Thankfully, Messenger has simultaneously introduced an antithetical — and less disruptive — counterpart for the aforementioned shortcut, and this is one is called /silent. Just type the command “/silent” before the message content, and the message will be sent without buzzing the notification bell on each group chat participant’s phone. The idea is to send a message without pestering people during their down time. On a general note, smartphone users should take advantage of features such as Focus on iPhones and scheduled Do Not Disturb Mode on Android to mute pesky notifications that might interrupt the workflow, a hard-earned spell of zen, or just a peaceful nap.
But Messenger has more shortcuts lined up for users. A /Pay shortcut will soon be rolled out for users in the U.S. (both Android and iOS) to make sending or receiving payments less of a chore. Just type the shortcut in a chat window and it will directly open the payments page to quickly send over money, without any fees involved. Messenger also aims to make GIF discovery easier. Just type /gif in the text field, followed by a word like “Will Smith” to see a carousel of GIFs with the slap-happy Oscar-winning actor in them. The notoriously hard-to-type shoulder shrug and tableflip emoticons are also getting some love, thanks to dedicated /shrug and /tableflip shortcuts that are soon coming to the iOS client of Meta's messaging platform.
Source: Messenger