Facebook is bolstering its standalone Messenger app with free video calling.
The launch, which Facebook announced in a statement today, follows Facebook’s rollout of voice calling to WhatsApp.
“Video calling in Messenger is launching today for people on iOS and Android in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Laos, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, the U.K., the U.S., and Uruguay,” Facebook Messenger product head Stan Chudnovsky and engineering manager Param Reddy wrote in the statement. “We’ll be rolling out to other regions and locales over the coming months.”
The Android and iOS app stores have not yet been updated with the new feature.
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But the move makes sense when you think about Facebook’s increasing focus on Messenger. Last month, at its F8 developer conference, Facebook revealed the Messenger Platform. And it got a clean and neat web client earlier this month.
And it’s reasonable for Facebook to add on video features as mobile video-friendly Snapchat keeps growing. Plus, there’s the whole livestreaming phenomenon happening between Twitter-owned Periscope and startup Meerkat.
