Facebook has finally released an iPad-optimized version of its Messenger app.

The updated Messenger app for the iOS includes an interface that is designed to look and work better with the iPad's larger screen compared to Apple's smaller iPhone and iPad devices.

iPad users updating to version 7.0 will see that Messenger will no longer just feature a stretched interface of the version for the iPhone. The new iPad version will have an interface of two columns, wherein the list of contacts of the user will take up one-third of the screen and is located at the left. The rest of the screen will be for the user's conversations, similar to how most other apps for messaging look like.

Aside from updating the interface to make Messenger look like an app made for the iPad, the version also keeps most of the features of the Messenger for the iPhone. The features include making voice calls and sticker responses.

Facebook said that the updated Messenger fixed reported bugs in the previous version, along with an increased reliability of phone calls. In addition, Facebook said that there were improvements made to the company's backend services, which will make it faster for users to find out which ones of their contacts are online.

However, despite the reported improvements and carried over features, Messenger for the iPad fails to deliver a complete messaging experience due to one missing feature. Video messaging, which was introduced into the app's version 6.0 update last June, is not accessible in the iPad version.

Facebook Messenger 7.0 is now available for download on the Apple App Store. The app has a download size of 39MB and is free.

Facebook Messenger is also available for the Android operating system. However, there is no available version yet that is optimized for tablets. 

The much-awaited update for an iPad-focused version of the Messenger, however, is looking like it may be overshadowed by the controversy that Facebook is currently facing.

Late last month, a study published by Facebook data scientists revealed that emotional contagion, or the phenomenon of affecting the emotions of others through a person's own emotions, can be replicated in the social network.

The results, however, are not the issue; rather, the methodology of the study, which manipulated the News Feeds of Facebook users, without their consent, to display mostly negative status updates. 

Adam Kramer, one of the data scientists, has since apologized for the controversial methodology, saying that the benefits obtained from the research do not justify the amount of anxiety that it has caused.