Facebook just made a big change to Messenger that you should know about

Looks like Facebook is taking a couple of cues from its own Instagram: Yesterday, the company announced that it will now allow users with multiple accounts to switch between their accounts within Facebook Messenger.

According to Android Headlines, the only bad news is that the new feature is currently limited to Android users, so those with iPhones will just have to go about it the old-fashioned way, logging in and logging out whenever they want to send messages from different accounts.

But, using the feature (if you have it) is simple: Go into Messenger on your phone or tablet, head to the Settings section and then go to Accounts. From there, you should be able to add additional accounts, all password-protected. The only catch? Once you’ve logged in with an account, you won’t need to use your password again, so be vigilant that your device doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

We can already think of a bunch of great uses for the new feature: Say your kids use Messenger, but don’t have a Facebook of their own. With this new feature they can shoot messages to friends via the family tablet and you can keep an eye on them. Alternatively, there are plenty of people who run a personal Facebook page and more public pages for a business or organization they own. Now, they can easily switch between those accounts. Meanwhile, users can take solace in the fact that they won’t receive notifications about messages to other accounts if they’re not visiting that account.

There’s no word yet on when the new Messenger feature will roll out for iOS, but we’re sure there are a lot of people eager to put it to good use if and when it does become more widely available.