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Facebook Messenger has been hit by a major outage , just a day after the main site broke for many users .
For some, the app wouldn't load at all. For others, conversations loaded up – but then the messages that should be there are missing.
It is unlikely that the messages have gone forever, but most likely that they are failing to show because they are not being pulled down by Facebook's servers properly.
Show all 11 1 /1111 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed 11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Go Facebook-free One of the best things about Messenger being split from the main Facebook app is that you can use it without actually having an active Facebook account. Simply log in with your phone number, rather than your Facebook profile.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Share music If you use your Facebook account to log in to Spotify, you can use Messenger to easily share songs with your friends. Just tap the + icon in a chat and tap the Spotify button that pops up.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Protect your privacy Privacy is important, and Messenger lets you protect your chats by switching on encryption. Just open a conversation, hit the options key and select Secret Conversation. You can even choose to make your messages disappear, by tapping the clock icon in the text box and setting a timer.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Plans and polls A lot of people use Messenger primarily to organise events, and the app has a dedicated tool for making plans. In a chat, hit the options key, select Start A Plan and enter the right time and date. In group chats, you can also create polls by tapping the + key in the bottom left-hand corner.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Games You can play games on Messenger by tapping the joystick icon that sits in the bottom right-hand corner of the home screen. Classics including Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Snake are available alongside newer titles, and you can also play against your friends.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Hidden messages Like email providers, Messenger has its own spam filter that keeps messages from people who aren’t your friends on Facebook away from your inbox. You can find them by tapping the phone book icon at the bottom of the screen and selecting Message Requests.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Themes and nicknames Blue is Messenger’s default theme, but you can change this by opening a chat, hitting the options button and selecting colour. It won’t change your life, but it’s nice to have the option. You can also create nicknames for yourself and your friends.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Messenger Day Messenger Day is almost exactly like Snapchat Stories, letting you post edited pictures and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Just tap Add To Your Day or the circular icon at the bottom of the Messenger home screen, take a picture or video, edit it and post it to Messenger.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Resize emoji If you ever get really bored, you can try resizing emoji by tapping and holding them to make them swell up.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Chatbots Facebook wants you to start using Messenger to speak to businesses, and you can do this by having a conversation with one of tens of thousands of chatbots. It’s a strange feature you can access by tapping the search bar at the top of the app and either browsing the list of suggested bots or looking for a specific one by typing in a company name.
11 useful Facebook Messenger features you didn't know existed Transfer money You can even send and receive money through Messenger, but only in the US right now. In chat, just hit the + icon in a chat, tap the $ key, type the amount you want to transfer and enter your card details.
The problems are occurring across the world, according to the site Down Detector. While they are concentrated in Europe, it is likely that is the result of timezones that mean most active users are online there.
The outage comes just a day after a new update to the Android version of the Facebook app appeared to break it and stop people getting online.
Facebook Messenger also received a major update at the same time, but it is not clear that the outage is at all connected to that new software. But the issues did appear to be primarily affecting those using Messenger on Android phones.
The site's platform status page – which is supposed to report any issues for developers – did not show any problems.
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