Facebook Messenger gets shiny new logo, chat themes

If you've recently updated your Facebook Messenger smartphone app, you may have noticed something was different. Yep: Facebook has added some color to the long-standing white-and-blue Messenger logo, reports Mashable. 

According to the company, the new logo "reflects a shift to the future of messaging, a more dynamic, fun, and integrated way to stay connected to the people you’re close to." One could also say they added a purple-to-blue gradient, but that doesn't sound nearly as fancy.

Facebook points out that it's not just the logo that's changed. In recent months, the company added a bunch of new features to Messenger, including Rooms, the ability to watch videos together with friends, and Instagram integration. 

Together with the new logo, the company also rolled out chat themes, allowing you to make your chats a bit more colorful. And more features are coming soon; selfie stickers are one, and vanish mode, which lets you set messages to automatically disappear after a certain time, is another. 

Notably, some of these features, including selfie stickers and vanish mode, actually came to Instagram's direct messages first. In September, Facebook said Instagram users will soon be able to send messages to Messenger users, and vice-versa, and added several Messenger-like features to Instagram. The company also said that Instagram might actually start getting some features before Messenger. 

In this new announcement, Facebook said that cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram will be rolling out "to most users in North America soon."