Facebook Messenger app review

Facebook Messenger

Price: Free

For: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad with iOS 4.3 or later

Facebook Messenger by Facebook, Inc. is a free iOS app for chat and SMS texting.

If you’re wondering why you’d want a second app to do the same thing as what the Facebook app can do, well here it is: Facebook Messenger is supposed to be faster, more stable, and more accurate.

If you prefer to send an SMS, you can do that within the app too – even if you don’t have that person’s phone number. If the recipient has his or her phone number added to Facebook, and you’re on the allowed list to view it, the app will automatically pull up his or her number.

The push notifications can be turned on or off for any length of time you choose. If you’re going into a meeting, going to bed, having dinner or a discussion you don’t want interrupted, just do it. You can also turn alerts for certain conversations on or off as you want.

The app also has location services, so you can turn it on or off to share or keep your location private. You can also see who has seen your messages, chat with a group, and send photos and smileys.

The Facebook Messenger app was updated to Version 2.1 on January 3, 2013. The update added the ability to call your friends free or send a short voice message from Messenger. The update also made bug fixes and other improvements.

If you use Facebook chat a lot, or want to keep your more personal one-on-one chats separate from your more casual Facebook use, then this app is definitely for you. I haven’t formed an opinion on whether I prefer this app over the regular Facebook app or not, but it definitely holds an appeal.