Facebook Messenger’s source code reveals hidden Rooms feature

facebook Messenger has built an unreleased characteristic referred to as Rooms that lets teams publicly chat about totally different topics and occasions. Buried in Messenger’s iOS app’s source code are multiple references to the function, with some explanation of the way it works.

The code presentations: “Introducing rooms”, “Rooms are for public conversations about topics and interests. each and every room has a hyperlink that can be shared so anyone on Messenger can subscribe to the conversation”. that you can apparently begin your own Rooms as smartly. The blue circle picture above is listed as a Rooms emblem in the code (the darker historical past and illustration of a home is ours).

When requested if facebook used to be building a Messenger Rooms function, the corporate advised me “We don’t have any touch upon this speculation.” on the other hand, listed below are screenshots of the excavated Messenger code about Rooms:

The Messenger Rooms characteristic is harking back to the standalone Rooms app that facebook launched in 2014 however shut down in 2015. It let people be pseudonymous and sign up for pastime-based totally discussion groups. It didn’t receive so much common traction, although, and was faraway from the app store.

Rooms may no longer be on hand to any customers or might be in very limited testing. it will by no means roll out extra extensively depending on user reactions. but the characteristic could assist fb fill in the middle-floor between extensive information Feed sharing to your entire social graph, and personal messaging to your closest chums. Rooms might become the Messenger counterpart to fb’s standard groups characteristic that’s grown to look over 1 billion monthly lively customers.

Rooms could free up more engagement on fb about area of interest themes that the majority of your pals may now not care about, however any individual in the market does. while teams is excellent for threaded posts about an issue, those don’t fairly feel alive. Rooms might capture the fast-shifting, fun conversations that after lived in the chat rooms of web 1.0.