Andrew Heinzman
“Hey, can you help me decide on a pair of sunglasses?” Facebook Messenger’s screen sharing feature is available now on iOS and Android. The feature lets family, friends, or coworkers the contents of your phone screen while hanging out in a Messenger video chat.
To share your screen, start a video call and swipe up from the bottom of your screen to see Messenger’s Call Options. Then, click “share your screen” and press through a few privacy warnings (you are about to show people your phone, after all). Now you can navigate your phone and broadcast its screen to the video chat. To end the broadcast, go back to the Messenger app and press “Stop Sharing.”
You can share your screen with up to 8 people in a typical Messenger group chat or 16 people in Messenger Rooms. Facebook plans to extend screen sharing to 50-person Messenger Rooms in the near future.
Screen sharing could help you share your Instagram feed with friends while social distancing. It could also help you troubleshoot problems on your phone, or share a website without copying and pasting links. Mobile screen sharing is available now, but you may need to update to the latest version of Messenger to access the new feature.
