Facebook is bringing a ton of new filters, masks and video reactions to video chats in Messenger, aiming to deliver a more fun experience to younger users on the app and shore up the service against competing video chat apps.
The update is centered all around fun, visual filters.
Video reactions will allow you to choose one of the Facebook reaction emojis and bring up custom video filters that share your joy, anger, sadness or more. The live filters allow you to react to conversations in a more visual way.
Additionally, the service is introducing stylistic filters that can give your video footage a different color hue or lighting type. You’ll be able to preview these filters live before sharing the style with your group.
Continuing with the filter-centered update, Facebook is bringing some new augmented reality masks to video chats, allowing users a greater depth of variety in what exactly they can become onscreen. Animated effects like falling hearts and shooting stars that react to your movements will also be included in the update.
Alongside the filter updates, Messenger will be making it easier for users to take screenshots of their video chat conversations with a dedicated button that will save images so you can easily preserve a snapshot of a call without fumbling with multi-button combinations.
While services like FaceTime are popular, they’re pretty bare-bones compared to most photo and video apps out there. iMessages has already copied more fun-loving chat apps in a lot of ways, but video chat is still pretty dull. Adding in some fun and goofy filters gives Messenger a chance at capturing the attention of more young users, though the app continuing to add complexity also risks creating headaches for those who just want an easy way to chat with their FB friends.