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“We know that people receive messages via both SMS and Messenger — for example your best friend sends you GIFs on Messenger whilst your mom only uses SMS — we want to make it easier to stay in touch with all the people you care about. We hope that this new choice will bring the convenience of being able to access all your messages in one place, making your messaging a lot simpler and helping you stay on top of your conversations!”

Post on Facebook Messenger Facebook Page on Tuesday June 14th 2016 announcing SMS integration

Facebook is slowly taking over your smartphone.

Their latest Messenger update, which rolled out globally on Tuesday June 14th 2016, now makes it possible for Messenger to send and receive SMS (aka text) messages on Google Android smartphones (sorry apple fans…you’re update is in the works!).

In so doing,  Facebook Messenger is fulfilling a promise they’d made to eliminate answering voicemails and SMS as predicted in How Facebook Messenger will replace your smartphone in 2016.

Geezam - How Facebook Messenger can your Text Messages as Voicemails may be next - 19-06-2016 LHDEER

A feature they’ve been experimenting with since 2013, it now debuts exclusively on Android smartphones, albeit the text messages can be sent to any phone that doesn’t run Facebook Messenger. The new Messenger update comes possibly with a dash of AI (Artificial intelligence) built into the M virtual assistant, making it a lot more modern.

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Possibly, this may include a free dispensary of free pizza coupons while we humans play chess as predicted in How FB Messenger Ads means Chess playing Chatbots with Fast Food Coupons or other games like Basketball or even Football.

Facebook Messenger answering your Text Messages – Voicemails may be next

To give this feature a go, do the following:

  1. Open Facebook Messenger
  2. Tap on Settings
  3. Select the person icon
  4. Select SMS from the list
  5. Enable Default SMS app

You’ll be able to view and respond to any SMS within Messenger, even the desktop version as noted in Now Facebook has a Messenger website for your Desktop.

These SMS will show up as purple; Messenger conversations will be blue. Big Blue promises to play nice and NOT store your SMS conversations, albeit I find that hard to believe.

Geezam - How Facebook Messenger can your Text Messages as Voicemails may be next - 19-06-2016 LHDEER

This as Facebook has plans to launch their own Ad Network like Google AdWords that’ll track you anywhere online outside of Facebook, serving you ads based on you browsing preferences. They also allegedly plan to track you in the physical world even when you go into a store just to know that you actually “like”.

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So is this SMS reading this yet another way to track your messaging habits? And will they start listening in on your voicemails as well? Still, if they’re free pizza coupons, most Millennials will hardly mind, especially if the M assistant AI can take over and answer their annoying Voicemails.

Most Millennials hardly answer these messaging relics of the Telecom Networks, defaulting to WhatsApp anyway, hence it popularity as noted by Kelroy in WhatsApp is the #1 Mobile Messaging App in the World.

Facebook needs to remember the free pizza coupons are the way to a Millennial’s heart! After that, they can have all the data they want!

Here’s the link:

Now you can get your SMS messages in Messenger

 

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