Facebook is in the process of rolling out Messenger 1.9 for iPhone and Android, which adds full emoji support, one-tap access to a friend's Timeline, an updated "new message" sound, and most importantly, a new indicator under a friend's name which shows when they were last available inside Messenger. The "last active" indicator reminds us of the Facebook and Myspace of yore which let you see when a friend last logged in, but this is more specific since it only applies to Facebook's mobile apps. This information adds just a bit more context to your conversations, like read receipts did when they rolled out back in May.

The update isn't as large as the last, which brought local notification banners and larger photos, but indicates that the company seems committed to frequently updating its dedicated native apps. This also marks the first time Messenger has integrated directly with the main Facebook app. When you tap a friend's name, you immediately pop into Facebook's main app to view their Timeline. While we learned yesterday that Facebook's new native iOS app includes the entire Messenger codebase, that app won't get these features until its next update. Android, on the other hand, was updated yesterday with emoji support.