- Meta announces the closure of its Messenger application for Mac and Windows
- You have until December 15 to use its desktop apps before they are removed
- There is no official reason for this decision yet, but many users are unhappy
Is Messenger your go-to app for keeping tabs on your countless group chats? Well, unfortunately, Meta will be shutting down its Messenger apps for Mac and Windows – and the change will happen soon.
Starting December 15, the Messenger app on Mac and Windows devices will cease to exist, and the company has already removed it entirely from the Mac App Store to stop new downloads – which was first spotted by Apple Insider. Its iOS and Android mobile apps still work, but the desktop app experience is being phased out.
Meta announced its decision to remove Messenger for desktop in a help page, but has yet to explain why. Following its deprecation, users “will not be able to sign in to this app and will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website for messaging.” For those who don’t have a Facebook account but still use Messenger, you will be redirected to Messenger.com.
To prepare you for the big change, Meta will send in-app notifications that you will receive when the deprecation process begins. Once you receive this alert, you will have 60 days to use its Mac and Windows apps before they are permanently deleted, and your access will be blocked after that time.
What about your chat history? During this transition period, Meta encourages you to enable secure storage (see below) and set up a PIN in the Messenger app before moving to the web version. Once you enable this setting, your chat history will appear in your conversations on all platforms, and it’s quite simple to configure.
All you have to do is press the settings cog icon above your profile picture, then go to “Privacy and security” and select “End-to-end encrypted chats”. From there, go to Message Storage and enable Secure Storage.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back for me”
The phasing out process has barely begun and Meta is already facing backlash from users who rely on Messenger for desktop for their daily communications.
The depreciation of Messenger’s desktop apps has offended some users, particularly those who have left Facebook but continue to use Messenger.
Although users can still access Messenger through its web version, the desktop app offers an easier way to start one-on-one conversations and group chats. This convenience will disappear starting December 15, which is the main drawback for those who are primarily desktop users.
Fortunately, its mobile app is here to stay and will remain intact unless Meta has a huge surprise up its sleeve. We’ll update this story if Meta gives us a reason for this unexpected decision, but for now, desktop users should follow the process above before upgrading to the web version.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
