Messenger is so much more than a mere messenger.

Facebook's standalone messaging platform, the aptly named Facebook Messenger, has become almost as popular as Facebook itself. Since April, Messenger had 900 , 000, 000 monthly users.

But Zuck & Co. seem to have far bigger plans for Messenger than just being Facebook's chatty kid cousin. In recent months, Fb has packed a great deal of cool (and fairly unexpected) functionality into Messenger and has hinted at much more to come. For example , the company recently partnered with KLM Airlines to allow Messenger to be a boarding pass (which we didn't get a chance to test) and is rumored to be developing mobile payment functionality for retail stores (which we very much look forward to testing).

It seems that Facebook, Inc. is grooming Messenger to become an all-in-one productivity/communication platform. But even in its current state, Messenger is one of the most flexible messaging applications out there. I certainly learned a lot while researching this article.

One note of caution: For all your resources Facebook has packed into Messenger, it quickly became apparent during the writing of this feature that cross-OS accordance was not one of its guiding principles. Messenger's functionality can differ greatly across devices. I tested these Messenger features on an iPad, Android phone (an older Galaxy phone operating Lollipop to be specific), and the Web software. Even though features aren't completely missing from particular systems, they might need to be accessed in radically different ways. Just know that when attempting any Messenger magic yourself. Good good fortune!