In October of last year, Facebook debuted a brand new redesign for Messenger. The rollout was limited, however.

It would not be until January of this year that all Messenger users actually got the new design. The update was meant to address the overcrowded nature of Messenger. It slimmed things down quite a bit, removing buttons and more. Facebook Messenger is now more streamlined than ever before. Even if it is still packed with features.

While that update was being showcased and launched, Facebook Messenger was also teasing a dark mode. It didn’t make the first cut, unfortunately, and even when it was being widely released dark mode wasn’t part of the mix. That is finally changing today, March 4. Facebook has confirmed that dark mode is now rolling out to Messenger users.

However, there is a catch. A mildly frustrating catch. Here’s Facebook describing how dark mode can be activated:

“As many may have discovered, dark mode can be accessed through a hidden, limited-time only experience. Simply send a crescent moon emoji – 🌙 – in any Messenger chat to unlock the setting and prompt to turn on dark mode.”

At the time of publication it appears that is the only way to turn the feature on. However, that “limited-time” part is actually not bad news. That doesn’t mean this dark mode will be disappearing soon. Instead, Facebook Messenger will be getting a dark mode in a more permanent placement in the Settings section in the “coming weeks”. So dark mode isn’t going anywhere, but that crescent moon emoji on-switch is.

The new dark mode is available to all Messenger users on iOS and Android.

[via Facebook]

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