(Mirror Daily, United States) – Facebook is trying – and succeeding – to make its Messenger app more festive by rolling out a set of holiday-themed features. Android and iOS users everywhere have already started using the new tools, and it’s rather exciting.
First up is Photo Magic, a new image-sharing feature that feeds off Facebook’s considerable facial recognition powers. How many times have you snapped a group picture on your smartphone and promised to send it to everyone? And how many times have you actually done that?
If failing to send those pics to friends and family is one of your weaknesses, Photo Magic is here to make it all better. Immediately after you took the picture, the feature will ask if you want to send it right away to people it recognizes in the shot.
If you agree, a group thread is instantly created within Messenger. But if you don’t, and you want the picture kept private, you can do that, too, by tapping the “Cancel” option instead. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
If you’re in dire need of Photo Magic, just head over to Settings and agree to give Messenger access to pictures stored in the phone. Users can opt whether or not they want their name to pop up when other people use the tool.
Even though Photo Magic is definitely the biggest addition to Facebook Messenger, it’s certainly not the only one. Get ready for a colorful waterfall of new colors and emoji for the holidays, too.
The iOS app has introduced nicknames, colors and emoji. For example, you can tap on your mom’s formal name at the top of the conversation and change it to just “Mom,” or tap on the options on a conversation group thread to choose a festive red.
You can also change the emoji response from the classic thumbs up to something more appropriate for this time of year, like a party hat, according to Facebook’s official post on the matter.
Any participant in a conversation can use the new options, changing the colors or the nicknames as many times as they want. Whenever a user makes a change, the other people in the thread can also see what updates you selected.
And what’s the Christmas season without a little snow animation into Messenger? Whenever you’ll send a Christmas-related emoji to a friend – a Santa, or something with snow in – a little snowfall will temporarily take over your screen.
Image Source: Android Community