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Facebook will now make it easier to share directly to WhatsApp with a more prominent ‘Send in WhatsApp’ button. Facebook has started rolling out an update to Android, where all posts with ‘public’ privacy settings will now show the WhatsApp share button. The move comes even as Facebook looks to integrate more with the WhatsApp and Instagram apps. It has been reported that Facebook plans to add its name to the WhatsApp and Instagram apps.
According to a press statement by Facebook, it will now make the WhatsApp sharing option more prominent. This feature was already present in the ‘More Options’ but Facebook says given the interest of sharing information on WhatsApp, they are making it more prominent. “We’re making it easier for people to share posts they want to have conversations about with their WhatsApp contacts,’ said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement.
Keep in mind that the feature to ‘Send in WhatsApp’ will only appear for people with WhatsApp installed. Facebook relies on the Android PackageManager API, which is present on all apps on Android devices in order to check whether there is WhatsApp installed on the device or not.
WhatsApp will not share a person’s WA account with Facebook if a user tries out this feature. This is basically a direct shortcut in the Facebook app to share more quickly to WhatsApp instead of relying on the more option.
Facebook has recently said that it will focus more on interoperability among its apps and more such features like WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook and Instagram are expected. Facebook is also testing a feature where a WhatsApp Story can be directly posted to the main app as well and it is live for some users also. On Instagram, users have the option of directly sharing their Stories from the app to the main Facebook app.
Facebook wants to give users a choice to reach their friends across Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, from whichever app they prefer. Zuckerberg in a previous post had said, “With the ability to message across our services, however, you’d be able to send an encrypted message to someone’s phone number in WhatsApp from Messenger.”