Facebook cuts chat out of its apps so that you'll download the standalone Facebook Messenger

Facebook’s bid to take over your homescreen continues.

Today, Facebook announced plans to remove messaging features from its main app, as TechCrunch first reported. Facebook’s intention, it appears, is to drive people to its standalone messaging app, Messenger. It just recently updated the app to promote use of its voice-calling feature.

The messaging button within Facebook’s core app will remain, but it will only offer a quick way to launch the Messenger app (or point people to a download link if they don’t already have it). Facebook’s acquisition of messaging rival WhatsApp, a move that just received the go ahead from the FTC, likely influenced this upcoming product change.