Facebook has announced a new feature for its Messenger App called Shortcuts using which users can now issue commands via the chat window to perform certain functions like notifying everyone in a group chat, or silently sending a message without notifying other users. Users can also send GIFs and ASCII emoticons on Facebook Messenger using the new Shortcuts feature.
Facebook Messenger Shortcuts
Facebook announced that the commands namely @everyone and /silent shortcuts are available today to people using Messenger on iOS and Android. When you start a message with @everyone, all participants in the chat will be notified. “@everyone is perfect for group reminders, impromptu get-togethers or when you need to gather the braintrust to crowdsource an answer to a time-sensitive question”, said the company.
The next command is the silent one. When you use /silent (also available on Instagram as “@silent”), the members of your chat will not receive a notification of your message at all. The command comes in handy when you don’t want to interrupt someone with a non-urgent pop-up notification or disturb them during their off hours.
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Further, Facebook said that it will be introducing several new shortcuts that will help in the efficiency of Messenger for both practical and entertainment purposes. Using the new /pay shortcut, makes it easier to send and receive money right in the one-on-one Messenger chats. Simply type /pay to send or request money securely without fees. This feature will be coming to the US via the Android and iOS Messenger apps.
Coming soon on iOS, the /gif command helps you find and send the GIF of your chosen topic. You may type /gif to see your gif options appear. Lastly, instead of struggling to type each ASCII emoticon (or having to find it online to copy and paste), you can now simply type in /shrug or /table flip to add your chosen emoticons to your message. These are just the first of many shortcuts you can use in Messenger, as more of them will be coming soon.