Facebook Silently Rolling Out Free Calling in US From Facebook Messenger for iPhone App

[Anthony Bouchard]

Facebook Wednesday began rolling out the feature to call your Facebook friends for free in the United States by using the free Facebook Messenger application in the App Store for iPhone. Facebook Messenger is a separate application from the all-in-one Facebook application, and the calling feature appears to be absent from the all-in-one Facebook application at this point in time.

As shown above, the Facebook Messenger application is being updated behind the scenes with support for free calling. It doesn’t require an update from the App Store, as the update is being added from Facebook’s side. Facebook did something similar when they added the new Photo Sync feature to the all-in-one Facebook application, which didn’t require an App Store update.

To get to the free calling feature, one needs to simply launch the Facebook Messenger application, choose one of their existing conversations, tap on the "i" button at the top right of the display, and the interface shown above will be seen by the user. The free calling feature does not appear to be available for everyone just yet, as the feature is in the process of being launched, however it will be available for everyone in the United States in due time.

The free calling feature was first released in Canada earlier in January, and the roll out into the United States seems to illustrate that the testing was a success. The feature can be used over both Wi-Fi and over a cellular connection.

You can download the Facebook Messenger application for free from this link. Is the free calling feature working for you yet?

Sources: Facebook via The Verge

[vinaygoel2000]

I see the Free Call button but its greyed out. Tried a few contacts but same thing.

[Evaded]

I see the Free Call button but its greyed out. Tried a few contacts but same thing.

Same here

[epiticus1]

There is an update, 2.1.1 that came out today but the outcome is the same. No one seems to be available to call. They're all greyed out.

[Bassvictim]

Same here

[Magnum]

I see the Free Call button but its greyed out. Tried a few contacts but same thing.

same here...

[ogdeity]

I can call a few of my contacts, but most are gray. Is this update for android phones too?