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Facebook Nixes Access To Chats Outside Of Messenger Walled Garden (arstechnica.co.uk)
Tom Mendelsohn, reporting for Ars Technica: Some smartphone users of Facebook are reporting that they're no longer able to access their messages from the mobile site, and that they're being directed towards the free content ad network's dedicated Messenger app. Users of the regular Facebook mobile app were shunted over to Facebook Messenger to access their chats a while ago. Now, folk who access the service on their phone's Web browsers, or via third-party apps such as Tinfoil or Metal, are beginning to find that they can no longer view their messages. Complaints are popping up from users who are being told by Facebook that "your conversations are moving to Messenger." Some Android users are even finding themselves automatically redirected to the download link on the Google Play store when they try and view their messages on the mobile site.
You use a free service you have to accept their structure and design. Seriously, I'm tired of all the bitching about Facebook, don't like it, don't use it.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
The apps are huge battery hogs - Facebook on Android is one of the worst offenders. Removing it virtually doubled my battery life.
Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
When it installing Messenger, it "needs" access to
* Identity
* Contacts
* Location
* SMS
* Phone
* Media/Photos
* Camera
* Microphone
* Wifi connection info
* Device and call info
Basically, EVERY bit of sensitive data on my phone. There was a recent radio broadcast where they were able to determine that FB was checking your location multiple times per second (whether or not you were using the app).
So yeah, no f'ing way that PoS app is getting installed on my device.