How To: View Facebook Stories Inside Messenger Chat Threads for Instant Feedback

You can't use social media these days without running into stories. They're simply everywhere. If you're an avid Facebook Messenger user, you know that you can view your friend's Facebook and Messenger stories at the top of your Chats list. However, a new Messenger feature puts yours and other people's stories inline for chats.

Facebook rolled out this feature in March 2019 to iOS users in version 206.0 and to Android users in version 207.0.0.13.99. So just make sure you're running the latest Messenger update for iPhone or Android, and you should be fine.

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Viewing stories in chats is simple. When chatting with a friend who has posted to their story, you'll have two ways to view it from inside the discussion thread. However, note that this only applies to one-on-one chats, as group chats will not let you view anybody's story in the group.

First, if you're using the iOS app, you can tap their profile icon in the top left of the thread. You'll know they have a new story if this icon has a blue ring around it. If it's a gray ring around it, it means you've already watched it. Second, whether you're on iOS or Android, the new way is to tap the "View [Name]'s Story" pop-up at the bottom of the chat.

Either of these actions will open up your friend's story. You can exit it at any time by swiping it down. If you didn't watch every clip in the story, you'll still see the blue-ringed profile icon and the bottom link. After watching the whole story, the pop-up goes away, and a gray ring will appear around the profile picture. You can always tap the profile icon to rewatch the story, until it expires, of course.

This simple change is a fun one. If the friend you happen to be chatting with has a story featuring their workday, weekend trip, or any other adventure, you can watch and comment right from the same space. If nothing else, Messenger's latest feature is quite efficient.

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