Those on the receiving end of the music will be able to click directly on the link, whereupon they’ll be taken to the Spotify app for instant playback (assuming that they have the app installed, that is). The latest feature is supported by both iOS and Android, so no matter which side of the smartphone fence you’re on, this announcement is for you.
The Spotify partnership is the latest in a series of features Facebook has rolled out for its insanely popular messaging system — earlier, it announced a partnership with Uber that would allow you to order a car from within the Messenger app (because apparently, it would be just too difficult to close out of one app and open another).
Messenger has also added a number of more messaging-specific bells and whistles, like the ability to share GIFs and stickers with your friends. Already, Facebook’s standalone app has garnered more than 800 million monthly active users, putting it on target to compete with some of the biggest players in the space. And with rumors of a desktop app, there’s no telling what’s next for Facebook Messenger.
So for now, Messenger is tapping into Spotify’s 75-million-strong user base to further boost engagement, but the sky seems to be the limit for this particular offshoot of the Zuckerberg empire.
