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Messenger

Name: Messenger
Rating: 4.0 (90000000 reviews)
Author: Meta Platforms, Inc.

4.0

CategoryCommunication

Download5B+

PriceFree

RatedEveryone

RequiresAndroid 9.0+

DeveloperMeta Platforms, Inc.

Screenshots

About this app

Messenger began life as Facebook's chat feature and grew into one of the most installed apps on Earth. Its pull is the social graph behind it: anyone with a Facebook account is reachable by name, no phone number exchange needed, and group chats, calls, stories, and games all live in one place. For staying in touch with acquaintances you would never trade numbers with, nothing else comes close.

The big shift came in late 2023, when Meta made end-to-end encryption the default for personal one-to-one chats and calls after years of it being an opt-in 'secret conversation' mode. That closed a long-standing gap with WhatsApp. What has not changed is the business model: Messenger is an advertising company's product, and the account activity, device data, and connection metadata it gathers feed the wider Meta ecosystem.

Reaching people without swapping numbers

Because identity comes from Facebook profiles, you can message the marketplace seller, the event organiser, or the old classmate directly. This looser social layer is Messenger's real advantage over phone-number messengers, especially in North America and Southeast Asia.

Big informal group chats

Long-running friend and family groups thrive here, with polls, nicknames, reactions, themes, and shared media albums. The playful customisation is genuinely better developed than in most rivals, even if it comes wrapped in a busy interface.

Free video calls with Facebook friends

One-to-one and group video calling costs nothing and works on modest connections. Since your contact list already exists, calling grandparents or a scattered friend group requires zero setup beyond installing the app itself.

Default end-to-end encryption

Personal chats and calls are now end-to-end encrypted by default, using protocols built on the Signal protocol plus Meta's own Labyrinth design for encrypted message storage. Group chats and communities are not all covered yet.

Cross-app reach

Messenger connects to Instagram messaging and Facebook itself, so one inbox can span Meta's apps. Handy if you live inside that ecosystem; a wider data surface if you would rather not.

Rich chat customisation

Themes, nicknames, custom emoji reactions, polls, GIFs, stickers, and payment features (in some regions) make chats more expressive than most competitors manage. Vanish mode adds disappearing messages to any conversation on demand, and shared media albums keep group photos organised.

Calling and rooms

Voice and video calls support large groups, with screen sharing and AR effects. Call quality is solid, and calls to other Messenger users are free worldwide over data or Wi-Fi.

Privacy & Data Safety

Content protection improved dramatically once default end-to-end encryption arrived for personal chats in late 2023, meaning Meta can no longer read those messages. Everything surrounding them remains fair game under the privacy policy: contacts, device identifiers, usage patterns, location signals, and interaction metadata, all of which can inform advertising across Facebook and Instagram. You are trading metadata for convenience, and the trade is bigger here than with most messengers.

Encrypted message backups are secured with a PIN or key you set; without that step, losing access to your account can mean losing chat history.
A Facebook or Messenger account ties your activity to a real-identity social graph, which is far more revealing than a bare phone number.
Some chat types, including certain group and business conversations, still fall outside end-to-end encryption, and Meta can process those messages.
Metadata about who you contact and when is collected and linked to your profile for advertising and 'people you may know' style suggestions.

Advantages

Enormous user base reachable by name rather than phone number
End-to-end encryption now on by default for personal chats and calls
Free, reliable group video calling
Deep customisation: themes, reactions, polls, shared albums

Updates

Meta pushes Messenger updates on a roughly weekly cadence, though many changes are feature flags flipped server-side rather than code in the APK. The encryption rollout was the clearest recent example: accounts migrated in waves over months regardless of app version. Update notes are generic, so the version number tells you little about what your build actually does.

Completing the migration of chats to default end-to-end encryption and secure storage
Communities and larger structured group spaces
AI assistant features and generative stickers appearing throughout chats

Editor's Assessment

Our verdict

Messenger is best judged as two things at once: a genuinely capable, now default-encrypted chat app, and a data-collection surface for the world's second-largest advertising business. If your social life already runs through Facebook or Instagram, it is the path of least resistance and the encryption upgrade makes it far more defensible than it used to be. If you are choosing a messenger from scratch and privacy weighs heavily, Signal or even WhatsApp expose less about you.

What works

Enormous user base reachable by name rather than phone number
End-to-end encryption now on by default for personal chats and calls
Free, reliable group video calling
Deep customisation: themes, reactions, polls, shared albums

What to know

Heavy metadata collection tied to your real-identity Meta profile
Ads and sponsored content woven into the inbox experience
Not all conversation types are end-to-end encrypted yet
The app is large and resource-hungry compared with leaner messengers

FAQ

Are my Messenger chats really encrypted now?

Personal one-to-one chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default since Meta's rollout that began in late 2023, so message content is unreadable to Meta. Some group and business conversations are not yet covered, and metadata about your activity is still collected regardless of encryption.

Can I use Messenger without a Facebook account?

Meta has changed its stance on this more than once. Account requirements vary by region and over time, and in most places a Facebook account is the expected way in. Check the sign-up screen; if account-free access is offered in your region, it will appear there.

Does Messenger show ads?

Yes. Sponsored messages and ads appear in parts of the inbox and stories, and your Messenger activity contributes to the profile Meta uses for ad targeting across its apps. There is no paid tier to remove advertising; the ad model is how the product is funded.