With 360 degree photos and HD quality video, Messenger gets even more visual

Facebook made the following news announcement regarding the imaging capabilities of Facebook Messenger

Visuals are the best way to add delightful expression and meaningful emotions to your chats. Earlier this year we shared that the ability to send photos, videos, stickers and GIFs in Messenger is extremely popular and now we are continuing to make these features richer, sharper, and better than ever. That’s why today, we are introducing the ability to send 360 degree photos in Messenger.

Amazing 360 degree photos, and panoramic photos, will give you the ability to share more immersive views of your world – from stunning landscapes, to that coveted ocean view from your hotel room, or the way your new apartment looks – the world is your oyster now in Messenger.

That’s not all. On the heels of our high resolution photo news introduced last fall, we’re also launching the ability to share high definition quality videos straight to Messenger. Many smartphones capture videos with HD resolution, and now people on Messenger can send and receive HD quality, 720p videos straight from their camera roll.

To try out these new features, first update your Messenger app to make sure you have the latest version.

For 360 degree photos in Messenger, simply set your phone camera to panorama and snap a photo or capture a 360 degree photo using a 360 photo app or camera. Then share it in Messenger as you would a normal photo. From there, we’ll convert it to an immersive, envy-inducing photo that your friends and loved ones can experience on mobile by tapping and dragging the photo or by moving their phone, and on Messenger.com by clicking and dragging.

To share HD videos, you can either share a video saved on your phone, from your newsfeed, or even share a video from one message thread to another.

Both 360 degree photos and HD videos are easy to identify in Messenger. You will see a compass icon on the right-hand side of a panoramic photo. The videos will also be easily identifiable with a HD or SD marker. If you’d like, you can change the quality right from the marker on the lower right side when in full screen mode.

360 degree photos in Messenger are available all over the world on both iOS and Android. HD quality videos are available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and the US on iOS and Android.

We hope you make your conversations and connections on Messenger even more extraordinary with these new features!