> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.so-me.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Meta Conversation Routing

> Why a Facebook or Instagram inbox shows "Another app answers this inbox", and how to make Social media studio the default app

Meta lets a Facebook Page or an Instagram account connect more than one messaging app, for example Social media studio and a chatbot tool. **Conversation Routing** decides which app owns each conversation. Only the owner app can answer.

## What you see in Social media studio

When another app owns some of your conversations, Meta still sends them to us on its "standby" channel. Social media studio then:

* shows **Another app answers this inbox** on the account in **Accounts**;
* stores those conversations in the inbox **read-only**: you can read them, but the reply box is replaced by a notice;
* does not run workflows, keyword replies or the AI agent on them.

When the other app passes a conversation back to Social media studio, it becomes answerable again at once. A new message, a button tap or an ad click from the person on the normal channel does the same. The account notice goes away about a day after Meta stops sending standby messages.

> [!NOTE]
>
> The standby channel needs the app's Page webhook to include the `standby` and `messaging_handovers` fields. If your conversations do not show at all, reconnect the account or turn the inbox off and on again in **Accounts**.

## Make Social media studio the default app

You change routing in Meta, not in Social media studio.

**1. Open Meta Business Suite**

Sign in to [business.facebook.com](https://business.facebook.com) with a person who has full control of the Page.

**2. Open the routing settings**

Go to **Settings**, then **Advanced messaging**, and find the conversation routing (default app) setting for the Page. Meta sometimes renames these menus; search the settings for "conversation routing" if you do not find them.

**3. Pick the default app**

Set **Social media studio** as the default app for Messenger and, if you use it, for Instagram. You can keep the other app connected for the conversations you route to it.

**4. Check the result**

Send a test message to the Page or the Instagram account. It shows in the inbox with a reply box, and your workflows and the AI agent answer it again.

> [!TIP]
>
> If you moved from another tool (for example a chatbot builder), it often stays the default app after you connect Social media studio. That is the most common reason for "Another app answers this inbox".

## Limits

* Routing is set only in Meta Business Suite. Social media studio cannot change it for you.
* Messages that arrived while another app owned the conversation stay in the inbox as they are.
* Buttons and links of the other app's flows (postbacks, read receipts) are not stored.


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