Mark Zuckerberg announced Messengers’ access to apps and businesses, according to USA Today (Romeo Gacad/ Getty Images)

Facebook will be allowing access of their Messenger application to other business and applications. Initially, Facebook has collaborated with 50 apps, including ESPN, Zulily and Everlane, according to Tech Crunch.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the move during the F8 software developers conference. The F8 is a two-day conference that aims to fix a shaky relationship with software developers.

The company also added a payment button to Messenger to allow users to send money to friends. The payment system will only work with debit cards, it will not accept credit or PayPal. Facebook does not intend to earn money directly from transactions, but users are still linked to the news feed and the social network where it earns money through ads, according to Tech Crunch.     

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This will enable users to share content with third-party tools and communicate without calling or emailing. The content apps will be accessible in the composer box near the options to add photos or stickers, according to Tech Crunch.

New apps on Messenger include Ditty, which sings messages to friends in melody of famous songs. Ditty is an app created by Zya to allow people “the thrill of creating music,” said Zya product evangelist Dylan Stevenson, according to the Los Angeles Times. Facebook also announced Businesses on Messenger, which allows users to converse with businesses, USA Today. Instead of a costumer getting emailed about an order confirmation, the message will appear on Messanger, according Tech Crunch.

Facebook desires to keep the attention of their users and keep them from going to rival mobile services. Facebook bought WhatsApp, a popular messaging service app, for $22 billion. The two services compete with not only SnapChat, but Japan’s Line, China’s WeChat and Korea’s Kakao Talk, according to USA Today.

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The social media company also recruited Davis Marcus, the chief of PayPal, to become vice president of messaging products, according to USA Today. 

The apps in Asia offer messaging and services, like ordering food and calling taxis, according to the New York Times. They also have virtual goods like stickers that express moods, games, and  entertainment and sports news, according to USA Today.  

Facebook is trying to win over developers with their offer of deeper analytical tools to comprehend users of their product. Gaining more developers means gaining more revenue for Facebook, but gaining meaningful revenue can take years, according to the New York Times.

Matt Serletic, chief executive of Zya said Facebook eased the process of small start-ups getting their app off the ground. Facebook hopes to attract other businesses, like cable networks, airlines and other businesses that have frequent costumer service issues, according to the New York Times. 

Zya does not share revenue with Facebook and Facebook does not restrict Zya from working with other messaging apps, according to the LA Times.

Shifting their attention from computers to mobile phones has benefitedFacebook. In the fourth quarter, the company earned 69 percent of advertisement revenue from mobile, according to USA Today. 

Mike Schroepfer, the chief technology officer of Facebook, will talk on Thursday about Oculus VR, a virtual reality company Facebook bought for $2 billion, according to USA Today. 

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