Facebook updates Messenger app code in preparation for WhatsApp integration

Facebook has released a new version of its chat app Messenger for iOS. The new app uses a new architecture that Facebook aims to make Messenger compatible with Instagram and WhatsApp in the future.

The new version of Messenger

The iOS version of the chat app has been “rebuilt from the ground up,” according to the company. The app is only a quarter the size of the previous version, and loads twice as fast, according to Facebook. Facebook says the app’s codebase has been reduced from 1.7 million lines of code to 360,000, according to a blog post explaining the new code. One of the biggest internal changes is that the contact list has been streamlined. Of those, 40 were different versions for different apps, which is now only one version. The look should be mostly the same.

The app is the first version that falls within ‘Operation Lightspeed’. Facebook announced that project at its F8 developer conference last year. Lightspeed is mainly intended to make apps faster, but also to link various other apps in the future. Facebook said last year that it wants Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram to work together. To do this, the underlying code of the apps has to be updated to a large extent. The current redesign of Messenger for iOS would be a first step towards that. Facebook also says that with the new code it will be possible to turn on standard encryption in Messenger, although the company does not provide further details about this.