Facebook Adds Movie Talking to Messenger App

Once a very coveted feature for TV channel surfers, Picture-in-picture (P-i-P) has faded into relative obscurity in the cord cutting era. Now, Facebook is bringing it back, with a twist.

An update to the social network’s standalone Messenger app lets you add a live movie to the corner of your smartphone’s screen while you’re talking. Part P-i-P, part conventional movie talk, Instant Movie is designed to rail the coattails of live streaming, which has exploded in popularity over the past year thanks in no petite part to Facebook’s original Live Movie feature.

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The difference with Messenger’s live movie implementation, of course, is its inherent closeness: it’s just inbetween you and the person (or group) you’re talking with. While both parties are viewing the same Messenger conversation, you tap on the movie icon in the top right corner to begin sharing real-time movie.

Audio is off by default, but you can turn it on by hand. The movie panel floats over the active text conversation, which you can proceed while you’re streaming. The movie stream is unidirectional, but your conversation playmate can share his or her own movie once you’re done.

In a blog post announcing the fresh feature, Facebook describes Instant Movie as a "reflection of the ubiquity of movie." Still, you can’t overlook the fact that its presence in Messenger is clearly a supplement to—not a replacement for—text conversations. Unlike the formality and awkwardness of a Skype or FaceTime session, movie in Messenger will let you quickly display off your ice juices flavor choice or fresh pair of high-heeled shoes before retreating to the convenience of texts.

As a hardware analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC Labs in Fresh York City. He previously covered the consumer tech hammer as a news reporter for PCMag in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where he railed in several self-driving cars and witnessed the rise and fall of many startups. Before that, he worked for PCMag’s sister site, Computer Shopper, where he periodically dunked waterproof hard drives in glasses of water. In his spare time, he’s written on topics as. More »

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