Facebook rolls out Messenger, Instagram for Windows 10

Author: Marshable

April 28, 2016 at 13:18

Fresh off its stellar earnings report, which owed much to its remarkable mobile performance, Facebook is giving a little focus back to the desktop.

On Thursday, Facebook unveiled its first Facebook Messenger app for Windows 10 desktop, along with an up-dated Facebook app for Windows 10 and, yes, in a nod to Microsoft's struggling mobile efforts, a fresh Instagram for Windows 10 Mobile.

The arrival of the apps, which should happen sometime Thursday, is not a surprise. Facebookpromised during its most recent F8 Developer conferences that it would be building Universal Windows 10 apps.

Now they're delivering them.

Facebook Messenger Windows 10 — The new Facebook messenger for Windows 10

The new Facebook for Windows 10 App can live in your start menu and in a pinned Live Tile. Because it's a Universal Windows app, it will offer deeper integration with other Windows 10 apps and systems, including File Explorer.

According to a Facebook blog post, you'll be able to share photos directly f-rom File Explorer to Facebook.

Messenger, which is new to the Windows 10 desktop world, will use its native integration to deliver message notifications on your desktop and inside the Messenger Live Tile.

When Instagram first arrived on Windows Phones in 2013, it was a somewhat pale imitation of the experience you get on Android and iOS. Facebook says in its blog post that, at the time, "we were focused on bringing the app’s core features to the Windows Phone community as quickly as possible."

The new version promises to include key Instagram features like Explore and video.

With Windows Phone market share now at a reported 2.8%, the rationale for bothering to build a Windows 10 Mobile app is questionable, at best. However, Facebook has already invested in building Facebook Messenger for Windows Phone and the Windows 10 Universal app subsystem ostensibly makes it easier to build apps for desktop and mobile at the same time.

The core Facebook app and Messenger for Windows 10 arrive on Thursday in the Windows App Store. Instagram for Windows 10 Mobile will be in the Windows Phone Store.

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