Messenger

Meta Platforms, Inc. publishes Messenger, the chat and calling app linked to Facebook. It lets people reach Facebook friends without swapping phone numbers, and it has grown into a broader communication hub with group communities, file sharing and a built-in AI assistant.

Contacts come from Facebook, so conversations can start without exchanging a number. Messages, voice and video calls cover everyday chat, while photos can be sent in high definition and collected into shared albums inside group threads. New connections can be added by scanning a QR code or sharing a link. Documents such as Word, PDF and Excel files up to 100 MB can go straight into a chat. A sent message can be edited for up to 15 minutes, and disappearing messages can be set for encrypted chats so they vanish after being read. Meta AI is built in for questions, advice and homework help, and community spaces gather people from schools, neighbourhoods or shared interests.

Messenger has passed 5,000,000,000+ installs and averages 4.7 from 114,249,804 ratings, with 82% five stars and only 2% one star. It carries no ads according to the record, though in-app purchases run from $0.05 to an eye-catching $7,909.99 per item. The latest update is from 2026-09-22, the Android requirement varies with device and it is rated Everyone. We list 7 versions; the newest, 579.0.0.61.91, is 144.8 MB.

It is the natural pick for anyone whose social circle already lives on Facebook. Users who want a lighter app or no link to a Meta account should look elsewhere.