Facebook Messenger adds option for chat bots to avoid chatting

On Thursday Messenger added an option for bot makers to prevent people from sending normal messages to their bots by replacing the in-app keyboard with a persistent menu, making the interaction more akin to a traditional — albeit barebones — mobile app or site. The Facebook-owned messaging app added other features, like customizable share messages that deep-link to the bot, a “Share in Messenger” button for in-app web pages and the ability for bots to upload attachments. You can read about those additional announcements here, but let’s talk about the main news.