Facebook members are sending the social giant a pretty clear message: Your app stinks.
"Terrible app" and "to hell with this" are just some of the things people are saying online about the latest version of the Facebook Messenger app, which will soon take the place of the messages function on Facebook's mobile app. Though the Messenger app first launched in 2011, Facebook began alerting users this week that they had to download the app in order to continue to send and receive messages on iPhone and Android devices.
The switch has peeved users, many of whom thought Facebook's messaging function worked just fine. A blog post originally published on The Huffington Post in December, which has gone viral this month, warns users about the chat app's "insidious" terms of service and its "attempt to collect so much information and take control of our devices."
Though Facebook has countered the post, telling the Wall Street Journal that many of its claims are overblown and outdated, users still don't appear to be so willing to make the mandatory migration.
Facebook told The Huffington Post on Saturday that the app is a work in progress.
"Our goal is to focus development efforts on making Messenger the best mobile messaging experience possible and avoid the confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences," a Facebook representative wrote in an email. "Messenger is used by more than 200 million people every month, and we'll keep working to make it an even more engaging way to connect with people."
Since Facebook started forcing people to switch over, Messenger has climbed to the top spot for free apps in the Apple App Store. That said, the newest version of the app has a terrible 1-star rating.
Over on the Android App Store, things aren't much prettier:
Of course, there are some easy things you can do to avoid the forced switch. For one, you could quit Facebook. Or, you could just simply email or text your friends. If you're feeling super adventurous, you could also try picking up the phone and calling them.