Facebook will reportedly merge Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp features

Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp are about to unite.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working on a plan to combine the messaging features of all three apps, therefore allowing their users to interact, The New York Times reports.

Although Facebook will still keep the apps separate, the company is said to be moving toward "stitching the apps' infrastructure together," which "requires thousands of Facebook employees to reconfigure how WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger function at their most basic levels."

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This move is reportedly intended, in part, to keep users engaged with messaging systems that Facebook owns rather than those operated by their competitors, including Apple. But the Times notes that Facebook employees are reportedly "confused" about this plan, with some finding it "jarring" because Zuckerberg has previously promised the three companies would remain separate. Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Both have more than 1 billion active users.

While Facebook's plan is in its "early stages," it reportedly will be ready either at the end of this year or early next year.