Facebook is currently the king of social media websites with ownership in Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s been a long time since Facebook is unifying the underlying architecture of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp for better control over all of the services. Now, the reports claim that the company is planning to rebrand the Instagram and WhatsApp apps for Android and iOS. With the line “By Facebook” added to the end, the company is planning to rebrand the apps. At the time of writing this news, Facebook confirmed the name change. Soon, Instagram will become “Instagram by Facebook,” while WhatsApp will become “WhatsApp by Facebook” on all of the available platforms.
Facebook has not shared any information before. But the curious journalists from The Information asked the Facebook representatives and confirmed this move. According to the spokesperson of Facebook, the company wants to be clear about the products and services that are part of the Facebook brand. As the antitrust investigation scrutinizing the company decisions, the name change decision was taken. Just like Google and Android, Facebook is facing Antitrust violation investigation from the United States government. The name of the apps will not change on the home screen or while using, but only on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
This is not at all surprising move from the company, as everyone expected this decision for a long time. It was evident that Facebook is taking full control of Instagram and WhatsApp when the co-founders of these services resigned, citing no autonomy in operations. As the FTC or Federal Trade Commission was scrutinizing the company for recent acquisitions, the decision might be the part to relieve the tensions, said some experts. As of now, we are unsure about the reason behind this decision, but it will be clear for new users to know that Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp.
