Facebook Messenger’s new home section shows you birthdays, favorites, and who’s online

New features were added to Facebook Messenger today, continuing a march toward a chat app that lets you communicate with apps, chatbots, businesses, and friends.

The home screen now has a list of friends online, favorite contacts, birthday reminders, and messages awaiting a response.

Above: Credit: Facebook.

This follows news earlier this week that the 900 million users of Facebook Messenger can now receive SMS messages in Messenger.

Both new developments further reduce the need for Facebook Messenger users to ever leave the app. Facebook and other chat app makers have made the case that we are at the beginning of a post-app era.

About the influence of bots, Facebook vice president of messaging David Marcus called this the beginning of “a new era,” akin to when everyone wanted a website or an app.

Kik founder Ted Livingston called bots a giant opportunity for businesses, consumers, and developers.

“Chat apps will come to be thought of as the new browsers; bots will be the new websites. This is the beginning of a new internet,” he said in March, ahead of the launch of the Bot Shop platform.

Since the Facebook Messenger bot platform was opened in April, more than 10,000 bots have been made. Facebook Messenger bots can now help you book a hotel, hail an Uber, order Thai food, or keep track of your finances.