Two issues with WP8's facebook messenger integration, solutions/suggestions welcome.

[You rebel scum]

Hey guys. I've recently moved from an iPhone 4 to the Lumia 920 and whilst I'm generally happy with the new phone and OS there are two issues I'm struggling to reconcile.

Firstly, my Facebook chat status is now permanently 'online' giving everyone the impression I'm sat on FB 24/7. Apart from making my chat status 'offline' manually via the desktop (which eventually just resets itself as online) or the integrated phone messenger (making it impossible to receive messages until I go back online) I haven't been able to find a workaround to this.

Secondly and more importantly, I cannot find a consistent app or method to receive group Facebook message notifications - ie for chat threads where 3 or more people are involved. The integrated WP messenger only works for single people. Same with IM+ / other similar messaging clients. The only way to access these seems to be via the unreliable FB app which is terrible at accurately keeping track of outstanding notifications and messages, and doesn't even register these group chat threads as being worthy of a notification on the lock screen. Basically, I want the same functionality that I get with the dedicated Facebook messenger client on iOS. Does it exist?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Cheers.

 

[hcheng]

I too am seeking a solution for this issue. I too switched from i4 to 920. Twins!

 

[ammarmalik2011]

Basically, I want the same functionality that I get with the dedicated Facebook messenger client on iOS. Does it exist?

Simple answer? No it doesn't. Your best bet is to stick it out with the joke of a built in Facebook integration.

 

[Josh Willis]

In case you or anyone who comes across this is interested, the answer to your first issue is this (as it works for me):

Click on the Me tile.
Last option is "set chat status"

I set mine to invisible. This makes it so I can respond and chat as I please, but doesn't show me as online all the time on FB.

Hope that helps! Happy new year!

~ Josh

 

[danbbrantley]

I too would really love a way to show the mobile icon next to my name on Facebook. I'm getting yelled at by friends for not responding at 330 am because the phone keeps the dot green all the time.

I wish there were some decent third party apps for FB to better handle messaging and tile/toast notifications.

 

[IceCrush]

hi,
Regarding these issues, may I suggest register to Facebook mobile notifications and set your status to offline, this way if your friend marks "Send to mobile" option, you will get test msg notification and you can go online if you want to.. hope it helps.

I hope someone - Microsoft or facebook - is working on a solution for this problem.

 

[darkfire2024]

This is honestly one of my biggest frustrations with wp8. The fb integration is fickle at best; sometimes the messenger app doesn't even send or receive messages on time. Twice now I've sent messages from it and it didn't register with fb so it seemed like I ignored my friends' messages. The official facebook app leaves much to be desired and there needs to be group chat compatibility.

 

[mas90guru]

I agree with the frustration level on the FB Messenger implementation within WP 8. I'm not sure why Microsoft didn't spend the time to get this right since it could potentially be a selling point for the phone.