[OnePlus 8 Pro  Guides, News, & Discussion] Smittyzz:
Took me 3 days.... But I'm ready to release a guide.

Overall 3 minute process just need to do everything properly

This is as title states.. to FORCE chat heads back onto your phone!

If your like me you must be dreading the new bubbles feature .. missing messages, not bubbling all the time, not closing when in the app... Just overall crap!

And they have blocked older apps from sending pictures.... but I've come up with a strange fix!!!

First and foremost, if you close the app or restart your phone you WILL have to repeat this process... Simply because messenger auto updates.... But I rarely restart my phone.. and it's worth having the working chat heads back!!!

To start: go into play store and unclick auto updates for messenger

Then delete it

Then go download the app called island, set it up and get it running

Go fine the messenger app from sep to Oct of 2019 Version 234.xxx or newer by a few releases.

Install this app onto your phone

Open app and verify CHAT HEADS is still in settings and NOT bubbles!!!

Go into Island!

Click MAINLAND and scroll down to messenger

Click messenger and on the bottom right click the 2 box's with a + on it

Now it's installed in your phone a second time under workprofile.

Go into app drawer and click the second play store(with the little icon on bottom right that's the app from the island app) search messenger and DISABLE AUTO UPDATES!!!!

(If it auto updates before you did this you will need to go into Island click island at the top beside mainland, and uninstall it, then recopy it over and reset it up.

Then

In your app drawer you will see a second messenger with a little icon on the bottom right, that's the new one, open and set it up.

Again VERIFY it has CHAT HEADS in settings, this time click it and go into the app settings with the first thing it highlights (system preferences or whatever the left option is that isn't under work)

Once it loads the Android settings to allow display over other apps click work at the top and scroll down to the messenger and allow

You now have working bubbles but can't send pics yet!

To fix that problem, update the messenger app from within the play store (WITHOUT THE BOTTOM RIGHT LITTLE ICON) it will update the app installed on your phone, it will **** your app installed in island down and do some weird semi update...

Then you open the island messenger app(with icon on bottom right) to verify it it still has chat heads I'm settings if it does you are good to send pictures now with working chat heads.(if it went to bubbles the initial restart uninstall messenger from island side inside the island app, then restart the process(happened to me a few times in my testing)

This is what I'm calling an ""in-between"" 2 restart app update. As the next shutdown you'll be dealing with bubbles ...

The few quirks:

cannot close messenger or restart phone or you will need to repeat(it's about 2 minutes flat after a restart to reset it up) (slight fix aside from never restarting to begin with is I locked the work messenger app in recents window and it doesn't close anymore!)

You can't read the mainland data(aka can't send screenshots in the app inside island that chat heads works because it can't read mainland data (but there's a way to set this up I believe in settings I just can't get adb to connect) so no pics or anything from mainland apps

(My get by for this above issue is to use the updated messenger on the mainland side to send anything pic/screenshot/video wise((or move camera apps and gallery over to island and have ability to see everything done with the island side of camera apps inside the chat heads messenger)))

There is I believe a few ways to allow them to read each other I just haven't fully sug into that yet

Video recording is for some reason cut to 15 seconds with the app in island for some reason after the force update.

Sorry for this being mad long but it's not that bad it works and really only takes 2 minutes, and if wanted I can make a 3 minute screen record of the whole process.... I just couldn't take the bubbles anymore

You can't restart your phone or close the app because after you updated the mainland app(phone side messenger app) it updated the app in island as well. That's why it closes on you when updating. You get one opening of the app """in-between""" the update being applied all the way. It sometimes sticks on the first restart but just restart the process!

This goes to show it's not a security issue, or a broken feature issue, this is Facebook doing what the want as always.