Facebook wants Messenger to 'reinvent the inbox' with a new Home screen

By Ashley Carman on June 16, 2016 10:07 am 5

Facebook is updating its Messenger app today to create a new homepage that will act more or less like an inbox. It’ll place recent conversation threads and users' most frequently contacted friends on the launch screen, which is now called "Home." Messenger currently displays threads like most other texting apps — in chronological order with the most recent conversation at the top of the screen.

"Up until now, most inbox experiences haven’t kept up with the new ways people connect," the company wrote in a blog post. "So, we’ve been thinking about how we can make it simpler and easier to find what you want to start a conversation."

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David Marcus, VP of messaging products at Facebook, said the company is "reinventing the inbox," when he described the project at the WiredBusiness Conference today. In addition to a "Favorites" section, which shows the friends users message most frequently, there will be birthday reminders and an "Active Now" feature that shows who's online.