Unofficial Messenger Desktop

What is the goal?

Access Facebook Messenger exclusively for chatting. Exclude distractions - e.g. reels, marketplace, feeds, etc. It can help with better time management and reduce dependency. It can also be useful if, after April 2026, you create a full Facebook account solely for Messenger access.

What are the advantages?

Browser-based application: relies on the default browser's WebView. Small, lightweight, secure application. Minimal footprint. No additional communication - it only loads the required webpage and hides certain visual elements; additionally, it opens internally redirected links in a new tab when clicked. It properly handles file downloads.

Automatic updates. If Facebook changes the UI, the application is updated accordingly. On launch, the app notifies you if an update is available, and with a single click it downloads the new verified version and installs it within seconds.

Plans?

I have some long-term ideas that I may or may not implement. I like that the application is lightweight and truly serves only Messenger access. However, it is interesting to consider how easy it would be to implement multi-account support, allowing you to send messages from multiple user accounts simultaneously - personal and business.

Story

In 2025, the then Messenger Desktop official application consumed a lot of memory, was buggy in many areas, and had weak official support. Therefore, I created an unofficial version exclusively for myself and a small circle, which used messenger.com as its base.

In December 2025, the mentioned official app was discontinued, making it crucial that my own alternative continued to work. In April 2026, messenger.com was also shut down, so it was important to ensure my app's functionality through other means.

In February 2026, I therefore carried out several updates. The new release relies on facebook.com/messages, but many changes had to be implemented in the background to achieve a completely isolated, clean Messenger interface separate from Facebook elements - where links also needed to open properly in a new window and files could be downloaded correctly. This was successfully achieved.

I work in a monorepo with closed code using a Tauri plugin that performs webpage rendering, automatic updates, and injection operations on any webpage. Thanks to the Tauri backend, I am able to build this simultaneously for Linux, macOS, and Windows systems. With GitHub Actions, I automatically manage releases to the connected public repository.

Although v0 was not public (since the official app existed until December 2025), v1 was made public to address the problem more broadly: focusing solely on communication; excluding reels, feeds, marketplace, and other unnecessary notifications to better concentrate on work.