Facebook has decided to change the name of both WhatsApp and Instagram by adding the suffix “from Facebook” to both apps. Here’s why
WhatsApp is changing its name. This is not a fake news, but a news confirmed by Facebook itself, owner of the famous messaging application. The change does not only involve WhatsApp, but also Instagram, another application owned by the Menlo Park company. Users, however, should not worry: the name change will not lead to any momentous upheaval, the functionality of the two applications will always remain the same.
Also the name change will be rather soft. WhatsApp and Instagram will have the suffix “from Facebook” added to them to make it immediately clear to users who runs the two apps. The name will be changed in the coming days/weeks within the Google Play Store and App Store, while on the smartphone screen users will continue to read only “WhatsApp” and “Instagram”. What is this name change due to? Most likely it’s one of the first steps in unifying the infrastructure of the three messaging apps owned by Facebook: Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct.
It’s certainly not new that Facebook is working in this direction: the goal is to create a single ecosystem in which a user can use any of the three applications indiscriminately to send a message to a friend. The work of unification of the three applications, however, will be very long and it will be necessary to wait at least another couple of years.
What will be the new name of WhatsApp
If in the next few days you read on the Play Store or the App Store the name “WhatsApp from Facebook” you should not worry. This is neither a bug nor a clone app of WhatsApp, but simply the new name chosen by Facebook for its most important application. The Menlo Park company wanted to “brand” WhatsApp with the name “from Facebook” to make users understand what products and services are part of Facebook. The same, in fact, will also happen to Instagram, while in the past it happened to Workplace, another service made by Facebook.
Another step towards the unification of messaging platforms
The Menlo Park company has tried to explain the name change citing as an excuse the fact that it wants its apps to be immediately recognized. But there is also a second reason: Facebook is working on the creation of a single ecosystem that brings together all its messaging platforms: Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram.
The same Mark Zuckerberg announced it during F8, the annual conference dedicated to developers. In recent months, technicians are working on the infrastructure that will allow users to indifferently use one of the three apps to chat with a friend. For example, you’ll be able to send a message to a friend on WhatsApp and he’ll be able to reply on Instagram.
How long will it be before we see this innovation? It is not given to know. The work to be done is so much and the time will be long: we will have to wait a few more years.