Messenger for Desktop

Messenger for Desktop is an unofficial Facebook app and a Windows application that lets you receive and send messages with ease right from your desktop.

The official Facebook Messenger developed by Facebook is designed for smartphones and works well enough on tablets and similar devices, but it isn’t nearly as convenient on a Windows desktop. In fact, it can be downright clunky, and that’s where the unofficial yet superb Messenger for Desktop comes in. This app is simple to use. It’s easy to install, configures itself, can automatically load at startup and doesn’t require Facebook to be open in order to send or receive messages. It’s practically a full-blown chat app, and you can approach it as such for having conversations with family and friends.

As mentioned, Messenger for Desktop self-configures. What that means is that once you’ve logged in to Facebook via this program, it retrieves and applies your Facebook options, including settings for chat, stickers, video calling, voice calling and so forth. The design of this program is also consistent with the official Facebook Messenger app, which means if you’re used to one, you’ll be comfortable with the other. In both cases, the design is a bit minimalistic, and advanced options for advanced users would be nice.

Messenger for Desktop even receives messages while it’s minimized or otherwise doesn’t have focus. It will simply flash on the start bar to alert you, and you can set it to make a ding. It even has a silent mode you can set when you want to leave the app running but don’t currently want to be disturbed. The app supports a full-screen window but can be resize it to your preference. The default size is nice for basic chat, but enlarging it helps when receiving images and other types of content.

Messenger for Desktop is a discreet, easy-to-use and powerful Facebook messaging solution in a small package that doesn’t require many resources. If you often find yourself going back and forth to a Facebook window to chat friends, then this program can make that experience much more convenient. Switching focus between the app and another window you’re working in is a snap. One issue to be aware of is that this app isn’t officially supported. That means that changes to the Facebook website could break this app, and you’d have to wait for an update before continuing to use it.

Pros

• Send and receive without Facebook open
• Automatically adopts your Facebook options
• Consistent with the official Facebook Messenger app

Cons

• Not officially supported
• Interface is simplistic