Messenger Lite App To Cease Operations For Certain Users Next Month
The Messenger Lite app, the lightweight version of Messenger for Android, will be shut down next month. Currently, users of the app receive a message advising them to “use Messenger to chat,” reports TechCrunch.
The app has already been removed from the Google Play Store for new users and will no longer be available after September 18th for existing users.
“Starting August 21st, people using Messenger Lite for Android will be redirected to Messenger or FB Lite to send and receive messages on Messenger,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email.
In 2016, Meta (then known as Facebook) introduced a Lite app for Android for users with less powerful Android devices. It offers only the essential features of an instant messaging app that consumes less storage space and processing power.
Although Meta released Messenger Lite for iOS, the company had discontinued it in 2020.
According to data.ai, a mobile analytics company, Lite versions of the app have been downloaded a total of about 760 million worldwide, with India having the single largest share, followed by Brazil and Indonesia.
Meta recently announced that Messenger will drop SMS support next month. It had informed users that they “can no longer use Messenger to send and receive text messages sent by your mobile network when you update your app after September 28, 2023.”
Earlier this week, Meta had announced plans to release end-to-end encryption by default for the messaging app by the end of this year.
