Facebook successfully tries to force users to install their mobile Messenger application on their phone. Every time you try to enter a message on the FB mobile website (i.e. m.facebook.com or touch.facebook.com ), the browser will redirect us to the Play Store to download this unfortunate messenger.
IPhone users will say that they do not have such a problem – rightly so. Android users are being forced to use the dedicated Messenger application, while on phones with the apple logo everything works as we would like. We will use this fact.
Table of Contents
Change UserAgent to solve the problem
It seems quite funny, but if our mobile device declares that it is an iPhone, then we will be able to view messages without Messenger in the browser on Android.
So – get to work! An example made using the Firefox browser .
Step 1: Install the UserAgenta change add-on in your browser
In Firefox, download the User-Agent Switcher and Manager add -on . Of course you can download any other, but in this guide, we will use just that.
Step 2: Set the add-on to work only on Facebook
- Go to add-on settings (Menu -> Add-ons -> User-Agent Switcher and Manager).
- Select White-list mode and enter “facebook.com” in the field visible there. It is enough for it to work also on subdomains (e.g. m or touch ).
- Click Save at the bottom.
Step 3: Set UserAgent to iPhone
Open Menu (3 dots next to the address) and select User-Agent Switcher and Manager .
There select Firefox and iOS there :
Then select this UserAgenta and select the green Apply button .
You can now use Messenger in your browser!
Now, after refreshing the Facebook page on your phone, you should be able to view and reply to messages
At the same time, I recommend switching to other, safer and more pleasant to use messengers, such as Signal , Telegram or Riot .
