Facebook Claims Messenger Service Is A Half A Billion Users Strong

It's been quite the year for Facebook's Messenger app. Prior to the summer, a lot of people didn't even know it existed - myself included - but come summer, everyone was handed a deadline: Transition, or lose messaging capabilities. At the start of August, Facebook stuck to its word, and disabled the messaging capability in the main app, leading to a revolt - thousands took to Apple's App Store to give the app a 1-star rating. At that point, it seemed like maybe, Facebook would backtrack on this whole forced transition thing. It didn't, and look at where the app is now: It enjoys half a billion users. Well, I use the word "enjoys" loosely.

I was one of those people who didn't want to transition. I just felt no need. Now, after having used the app since August, I can honestly say that my opinion hasn't changed. I'm still being forced to use two separate apps, when one was fine. And to make matters worse, I've been having an issue on my tablet where there's a broken link between the two apps; hitting a notification doesn't lead me to the Messenger app, even though it should. Instead, it does nothing, forcing me to open up the app manually.

Aside from that, I suppose I can admit that the app has gotten the job done. It looks good, at least, and I haven't encountered any issues while using it. Not that it matters any - I have no choice in whether I want to use it or not, and unfortunately, many people rely on Facebook to message nowadays. The forced transition might not have been great for users, but it sure benefits Facebook, and that's really all that matters, isn't it?