What you need to know
- Meta’s Messenger Lite app for Android will be shut down on September 18.
- Existing users of Messenger Lite will be directed to use the main Messenger app or FB Lite.
- Meanwhile, new users won’t be able to download the app from the Play Store any longer.
Facebook Messenger Lite, a stripped-down version of the main app that was designed for people in areas with bad internet, is shutting down next month.
As spotted by 9to5Google, the app is no longer available to download from the Play Store for new users, indicating that Meta is just about ready to let Messenger Lite bite the dust.
On the other hand, existing users who had installed it before (and had a change of heart for some reason) can still download the app again from Google’s app marketplace. However, when they open it, they’ll be greeted with a message asking them to use the main Messenger app instead. According to TechCrunch, Meta confirmed that it has begun advising users to switch to Messenger or FB Lite.
Back in the day, Messenger Lite was the perfect app for people who wanted to get the most out of Facebook Messenger without all the bells and whistles. It also offered a refuge from the cluttered, feature-packed mess that the main Messenger app had become.
Those who were annoyed by all the extraneous features in regular Messenger found the Lite version to be an ideal substitute. However, the pared-down app lacked capabilities that some users might find useful, such as video calling.
These days, lightweight versions of various apps seem no longer necessary. Most Android phones now have enough processing power to run the main Messenger app, which offers a wider range of features than its slimmed-down version.
Messenger Lite’s demise comes after Meta announced that Messenger is dropping its SMS integration on September 28, suggesting that the company is finally giving up on its dream of becoming the one-stop shop for all your messaging needs.