Pulling piece of the chat from Messenger on Facebook

"How do I ... ?"
1

Hi. Was curious about one possible functionality:

We`re trying to build a mobile app that would create a collage of photos and text, and in the process, we would like to be able to get messages from Facebook Messenger.

Flow would be to select a part of the thread in 1-1 or group chat and import it into the page as chat bubbles, that would be editable next to some photo that we would again download from Messenger, FB, Instagram or our gallery. We would also want to have same functionality, but with SMS Messages (both for iOS and Android). Is this possible? We understand that there are security issues and encryption, but, would we be able to access that information through some user app permissions or similar?

If not, any other workaround that comes to your mind would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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The Facebook Messenger API allows you to access Facebook messages without a problem. Thread - Graph API - Documentation - Facebook for Developers

However, Apple does not allow apps to access the content of SMS, for security reasons. The only exception is for OTPs. There is no possible workaround; if you use a private API to get around this restriction, then Apple won’t allow you to publish the app.

As a workaround, if you are trying to create a collage, you could consider asking the user to take a screenshot of an SMS they want, and then accessing it as a photo.

Here’s some more reading on the issue if you are curious: