Facebook Testing Mac and PC Apps for Workplace

[MacRumors]

Facebook quietly launched two official Workplace by Facebook desktop apps for the Mac and PC, TechCrunch discovered this afternoon. Workplace is Facebook's enterprise collaboration software designed to compete with Slack and other similar business apps.

The apps are available as a beta, with download links located in the Help section for Workplace. The apps are designed to allow users to communicate with their coworkers through chat, messaging, and screen sharing features. A Workplace by Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that Mac and PC apps were a highly requested feature.

Workplace by Facebook spokesperson Vanessa Chan confirmed the launch of the desktop app to TechCrunch, saying "This was one of the most widely requested features by customers, so we built it. The desktop app is still in beta and being tested by Workplace customers who are providing feedback that we'll use to improve the product before a wider rollout."

Prior to the release of the Workplace desktop apps, Workplace by Facebook was only accessible via a browser window, and as TechCrunch points out, it's easy to lose a single browser tab among many other tabs.

While the Facebook desktop apps are limited to Workplace, it's possible Facebook could be testing the waters for an official Facebook or Facebook Messenger desktop app in the future.

Article Link: Facebook Testing Mac and PC Apps for Workplace

 

[imran5720]

No thanks , cannot take any more invasions

 

[miknos]

No thanks , cannot take any more invasions

Are you saying that you don't like to share professional information with Facebook? Privacy is so 2010...

Let's see how Zuck candidacy goes in the next election. A debate between him and Trump would be hilarious!

 

[riverfreak]

DOA.

There is absolutely zero chance of this being adopted by anyone I work with. Maybe once all of us dinosaurs die off...

 

[Jimmy James]

I don't want the antichrist to have an app on my computer.

 

[convergent]

This is kind of silly. I am not connected with anyone in my professional life on Facebook, and never would. I am more and more not even wanting to use it for social networking other than my family that lives out of town. LinkedIn I trust with professional contacts, not Facebook.

 

[BGarza]

I actually love it, FB allowed our university to use it free of charge. For our staff of 400, utilizing iPod Touches, it gave us instant communication. I tried Slack, Skype, neither compared this solution.

 

[jamescobalt]

This is kind of silly. I am not connected with anyone in my professional life on Facebook, and never would. I am more and more not even wanting to use it for social networking other than my family that lives out of town. LinkedIn I trust with professional contacts, not Facebook.

Workplace is a separate system from regular Facebook. It's like it's own little private Facebook with its own apps and website. You don't use your personal Facebook account on it - it's a separate account on a separate platform. It's actually way more private than LinkedIn, and the focus is on collaboration rather than networking.

 

[hayesk]

Looks like yet another webapp. No, thank you. If I wanted webapps, I’d get a Chromebook. I’d like a native app that utilizes OS features, doesn’t use up all my RAM, and offers a UI consistent with the rest of my system. Is that too much to ask?

 

[BWhaler]

Just what I wanted at work:

Russian propaganda from a surveillance company.

Yeah, this is a hard pass.

 

[cerote]

Our work not long ago started using a social type thing. Haven’t touched it. Get update emails. Like I need to know peoples personal stuff via email along with the hundreds of emails I already have to go through.

 

[nvmls]

First Edge on iOS, now this.. lol good one!

 

[heov]

Facebook and Messenger apps already exist on Windows. Surprised they don't yet on Mac.

As mentioned before, Workplace is comparable to Slack. If your workplace uses Slack, Teams, Hipchat, etc. then you will be familiar with Workplace.

It's not bad, but we use Slack, and I think we're moving to Hangouts.

I'm surprised Apple hasn't made a push into this market yet!

 

[Urban Joe]

Haha... who in their right mind would trust this? Totally preposterous. Actually, it’s insulting that FB would think companies are so stupid to give FB an open door to surveille sensitive, timely corporate communications.
And of course FB = MZ

 

[fairuz]

I'd like using it, not for work but as an alternative to FB Messenger, which doesn't have an official Mac app.
[doublepost=1507256310][/doublepost]

Facebook and Messenger apps already exist on Windows. Surprised they don't yet on Mac.

As mentioned before, Workplace is comparable to Slack. If your workplace uses Slack, Teams, Hipchat, etc. then you will be familiar with Workplace.

It's not bad, but we use Slack, and I think we're moving to Hangouts.

I'm surprised Apple hasn't made a push into this market yet!

I have to dump on Slack on every article about messaging. It simply doesn't work right, lag and glitches everywhere. Discord is great; if it weren't so targeted towards el!te g4mers, I'd be able to convince management to use it instead.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Seems those in this thread don't understand the purpose of Facebook @ Work. It's essentially a Slack competitor. Allows coworkers to communicate easily, plus have groups and other stuff.

 

[riverfreak]

Seems those in this thread don't understand the purpose of Facebook @ Work. It's essentially a Slack competitor. Allows coworkers to communicate easily, plus have groups and other stuff.

Oh I get it alright. And there isn’t a snowballs chance in heck that anyone I work with would trust a collaboration tool provided by Facebook.

 

[convergent]

Seems those in this thread don't understand the purpose of Facebook @ Work. It's essentially a Slack competitor. Allows coworkers to communicate easily, plus have groups and other stuff.

Right, but Facebook has an image for being something very different. Its like a beer company deciding to branch out into selling infant formula. I doubt many moms would be into that. And this space is already crowded. If Facebook isn't coming in leveraging their user base, they are starting from scratch. We use Skype for Business at work for most of our collaboration, along with other Microsoft tools. It serves the purpose.

 

[- rob -]

Would never tie any work into fb. Would abandon work tools acquired by fb. I already keep the social network at arms length.

 

[MH01]

Slack - works Just fine

 

[Marshall73]

Total non starter. Facebook is always the first thing we are asked to block at our clients sites. They either use Slack, Teams or have their own in-house collab server.

 

[ErikGrim]

Web wrapper apps are BACK BABY!

 

[eoblaed]

And they still haven’t put out an iPad Pro (12.9”) native resolution app. Really?

 

[beanbaguk]

We've been trying out Workspace in our company and there was a big drive to use it. I think I've logged in once to upload photos, but essentially it's just a space for wasting time.

We use Slack daily now, along with JIRA and Confluence. (I hate the latter)

 

[vancura]

And... Another Electron app. Nearly nobody tries to be native these days