Meta redesigns Facebook, Messenger apps: Here's what's new

Facebook app update: Meta has redesigned its Facebook app in a bid to reach out to the younger users and help them explore their neighbourhood. The said that it is adding new features and tabs that will 'help young adults – and all Facebook users – explore their interests and connect with the world beyond their close friends'.

"We want to make it easy for you to discover the content and people you care about, because that’s exactly the kind of social discovery that Facebook is built for," the company wrote in a blog post announcing the series of changes that it is rolling out to the platform.

What's new in Facebook app?

Local Tab

Meta said that it is rolling out a new Local tab to the Facebook app. This tab will pull together the local content from across Facebook, including Marketplace, Groups and Events, and curate them in a single place.

It has also added a swipeable section in Feed that will show content from across Facebook. This section will show local events, interesting groups, people, businesses, and items for sale among others.

Meta said that at the moment, it is testing its Local tab in select cities in the US, which includes Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Explore Tab

Meta is also adding a new Explore tab to the Facebook app that will show content that is tailored to an individual user's needs. The company saod that the Explore tab uses a wide variety of signals to power its algorithm to ensure that the content in an individual's feed reflects their interests.

Video Tab

Meta is also updating its existing Video tab to focus more on Reels. "This will give you a full-screen video player that allows you to seamlessly watch the best short-form, long-form and live videos in a single experience," the company wrote.

What else?

Additionally, the company has started testing a customisable Group AI to help members of groups find answers to questions. This feature can be enabled only by group admins. When enabled, members of a group can open a chat with the group’s AI, which will answer questions and share link to relevant Groups posts. This feature is being tested in the US and Canada at the moment.

What's new in Messenger?

In Messenger, Meta is adding new functionalities to its Notes feature. The company today announced that it is adding functionalities such as music and mentions to Notes. These functionalities will help users express themselves creatively.

Messenger is also getting a new Memories feature that will show images and video previously shared by a user. Lastly, Messenger is getting its own Communities just like Facebook. Meta says that users can ' create multiple topic-based chats to organize and facilitate different conversations within a larger Messenger Community'. 

Lastly, the company is rolling out a new Matchmaker feature in the countries where Facebook Dating is available. Facebook's new Matchmaker feature lets users invite up to five friends to swipe for potential matches on your behalf.