Messenger
Messenger is Meta’s former Mac app for Facebook messages, group chats, and voice and video calls. It’s made by Meta, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from its maker.
What it is
Messenger let people message Facebook friends and make voice and video calls from their Mac. Chats synced between the desktop and mobile apps.
The Mac app requested camera and microphone access for calls. These permissions let it send your picture and voice to the people you called.
Meta retired the Mac app on 15 December 2025. It no longer works as a supported desktop app. Meta encourages people to delete it and use Facebook’s website for messaging.
Who makes it
Meta is a US technology company, incorporated in 2004, that runs Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Its legal name is Meta Platforms, Inc.. Its website is meta.com.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
HARD hasn’t yet recorded the signature on a real copy of Messenger. Its Mac app shows who signed the copy you have.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.facebook.archon.developerID or com.facebook.archon.
Fakes. In September 2023, researchers reported criminals using fake and hijacked accounts to send malicious attachments through Messenger to business owners. The attachments installed password-stealing malware on Windows computers.
Scammers ask people to install or open Messenger in these scams, so only use it with someone you contacted yourself: Facebook Marketplace scams.
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Camera | To send video during video calls. |
| Microphone | To send your voice during voice and video calls. |
Security record
Problems with Messenger or Meta in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Meta fixed a flaw in its separate WhatsApp apps for iPhone and Mac that it said may have been used with an Apple flaw in targeted attacks. | ↗ |
References
- Meta: New Messenger Desktop App for Group Video Calls and Chats about.fb.com
- Does It ARM: Facebook Messenger Desktop app information and Info.plist develop.doesitarm.com
- Well-Known: Facebook’s Apple app association records well-known.dev
- 9to5Mac: Meta is killing off Messenger’s Mac app 9to5mac.com
- AppleInsider: Facebook Messenger for macOS departs the desktop appleinsider.com
- Meta Platforms: 2025 annual report sec.gov
- BleepingComputer: Facebook Messenger phishing wave targets 100K business accounts per week bleepingcomputer.com
- WhatsApp Security Advisories 2025 whatsapp.com