NEW YORK: After one year of acquiring mobile messaging service WhatsApp, Facebook has begun testing a new feature in its 'Facebook for Android' app that includes the first major integration of WhatsApp.

The social networking site has added a 'Send' button with the familiar WhatsApp icon as a part of the status actions buttons that appear under each status update.

The new button appears on the right side (for left-to-right languages) for some users in the most recent version of the Facebook for Android app, the Geek Time reported.

This move appears to be the first step towards connecting the two platforms in order to sustain growth and take control of the messaging market together.

According to reports, teams are already working on a deeper integration that will include the ability to send messages between Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

WhatsApp, which last said it had 700 million monthly active users, and was acquired by Facebook for over $20 billion in February last year. Facebook Messenger now has 600 million monthly active users.

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