Facebook will no longer support the Messenger App for Windows phone 8.0 and 8.1. This comes shortly after the Skype app just got pulled too. Skype has a messenger feature similar to Messenger from Facebook, so that means two major messaging solutions just left the Windows Phone limited pool of apps. It was very weird to see the former abandon the platform considering that both Skype and Windows Phone OS are owned by Microsoft. It would not send a good message to developers by Microsoft removing its own apps from its own falling OS, it will lead to a streak of software companies losing hope and jumping ship as we are seeing with Facebook.
Facebook sent an email to everyone still using the Messenger app on Windows 8.0 and 8.1 to inform them of the cease of support.
“Thank you for choosing to use Messenger. We regret to inform you that since the end of March, the app version you’re using is no longer supported and you cannot send and receive messages. To continue to send and receive messages from Facebook on your phone, update your Facebook app to the latest version.”
Fortunately, if you want to continue receiving messages on Facebook, you can do so by installing the latest update of the app as indicated on the email. Luckily, if you have Windows Phone 10, you will continue enjoying Messenger with full updates support.
It is not shocking to see developers stop their support for Windows Phone apps. The platform has a market share of below 1% in the smartphone global usage statistics. It may no longer be feasible for companies to dedicate resources to such a small margin of users. Microsoft is not making things any better; it has not released any flagship device for Windows Phone OS for almost two years now.