Posted on 07.20.2016

See original article on Time.com here.

By: Lisa Eadicicco

It’s one of the biggest messaging apps in the world

More than one billion people now use Facebook’s messaging app each month, the social network giant announced Wednesday. This comes after Facebook Messenger crossed 900 million monthly active users in April.

“As part of this journey to 1 billion, we focused on creating the best possible experiences in modern day communications,” David Marcus, Facebook’s VP of Messenger, said in a statement.

Crossing the billion-user mark makes Messenger one of the largest chat apps in the world. WhatsApp, the messaging app Facebook acquired for $22 billion in 2014, reached the same number of users in February, while popular Chinese messaging app WeChat has 762 million users and LINE has 218.4 million.

Facebook has placed a heavy focus on messaging over the past year. In 2015, it announced that third party apps will be able to integrate with Messenger. This year, Facebook Messenger began supporting chat bots, or automated assistants typically designed to help users find information or answer questions. Facebook says more than 18,000 bots have launched on Messenger, while more than one billion messages are sent between people and businesses each month. (In 2014, Facebook controversially removed its chat feature from its primary mobile app; users had to download the separate Messenger app to continue chatting.)

The tech industry as a whole is showing a renewed interest in messaging. Google, Apple, and Microsoft have all announced this year that they will be revamping their chat platforms to include features like stickers, themes, smart assistants, and integration with outside apps. Line Corporation, the company behind the popular Japanese messaging app, made the biggest tech IPO of 2016 when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last week.

Marcus hinted that more changes are imminent for Messenger when speaking with TIME last month, saying the app will “look a whole lot different” by the end of the year.