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Facebook test brings voice and video calling back to main app

Some people are already able to use the features.

Headshot of Rae Hodge
Headshot of Rae Hodge
Rae Hodge Former senior editor
Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET's coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.
Rae Hodge
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Facebook is bringing voice and video calling back to its main mobile app, the company said. The features have been absent from the main mobile app since 2014 when Facebook moved them into its separate Messenger app. The features began appearing for some people on Monday as part of a test, as reported earlier by Bloomberg. 

The move follows on the heels of an amended antitrust complaint filed Thursday against Facebook by the US Federal Trade Commission that could force Facebook to spin off its WhatsApp and Instagram apps. 

"You're going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time," Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger, told Bloomberg, describing Facebook's push to consolidate more of its services and apps. 

For a full-featured messaging, audio and video call experience, a Facebook spokesperson said people should continue using Messenger.

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