Facebook Messenger’s about to get ads.

Rely on Facebook Messenger to keep in touch with friends and family? Still wondering why Facebook split it out into its separate app? To the first question, it’s about to get more annoying. And to the second? It’s because Facebook’s about to let companies start messaging you in Messenger.

Messenger gets a redesign — but will you notice? Photo: Facebook

Facebook has begun testing a redesigned Messenger app for Android that now boasts touches of Material Design, including a useful floating action button and a transparent status bar.

Hangouts won’t be your do-it-all messaging app anymore. Photo: Cult of Android

Google Hangouts could lose its ability to send and receive SMS and MMS messages on Android.

A “trusted source” claims Google has decided it’s no longer a good idea to make Hangouts a do-it-all messaging app, but it’s not totally clear why the company has had a change of heart.

PlayStation Messages gets its own app. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Sony’s PlayStation app for mobile has always been something of a disaster, with a poor user interface and painfully slow performance. That’s still true today — but now you don’t have to use it when all you want to do is message friends on the PlayStation Network.

In an effort to be a better messaging service, PlayStation Messages has gone solo. With the new PlayStation Messages app for Android and iOS, you can keep in touch with the rest of your clan without having to use the main PlayStation app at all.

Quick reply in action. Screenshots: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Google’s own Messenger app for Android has been updated with a useful quick reply feature — just like that in iOS 8 — that lets you respond to text messages from almost anywhere in a flash.