14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook Messenger for Android has been improved over its two years of existence, but it still needs a lot of work in order to succeed.
The competition on the instant messaging market is fierce, as there are so many alternatives to Facebook Messenger that offer a lot more features that the giant social network company has decided to start a beta testing program with the sole purpose of constantly improving Messenger for Android.
Today is the day when Facebook announced that it would soon start a beta testing program for Facebook Messenger for Android. This will start as soon as enough beta testers join the program, which should probably happen in less than a few days.
According to Facebook, the reason for this Facebook Messenger beta program is to let Android users experience first-hand new features before they are released to the general public.
This is not the first beta program created by Facebook for a mobile application, so it looks like the company really has something to gain by testing new features before they are pushed to Google Play Store or Windows Phone Store.
Luiz Scheidegger, Facebook software engineer, claims that his company’s aim with this program is “to expand our pool of testers and gain feedback across a more diverse set of devices. Simply by using the app and reporting issues, beta testers will be able to help us improve performance and the overall experience on a wide variety of Android devices at scale.”
As expected, Facebook will receive lot of feedback from the beta testing program, so the next updates for the stable version of Facebook Messenger for Android will be more user-oriented and, obviously, with less bugs.
Facebook also states that anyone who owns a compatible Android device can join Facebook Messenger Beta program after following a certain procedure.
However, keep in mind that the beta version of Facebook Messenger will be less stable than the final version that is available for the general public, so unless you are into testing stuff, we don’t recommend enlisting for the beta program.
In order to join the Facebook Messenger for Android Beta Testers Google group, you will need to apply here. In addition, make sure you allow beta downloads by clicking “Become a Tester” in the Google Play store.
Obviously, download Facebook Messenger via Google Play Store to update the application and turn on automatic updates, as the beta version of Facebook Messenger for Android will be updated multiple times per week.