But you can send people stickers and emoji to your heart’s content. There are no fancy face filters here there’s not even a built-in camera in this version of Messenger.
You can download it directly onto most Android phones for immediate installation just make sure you’ve updated your security settings to permit the install. APKMirror is a trustworthy source of such things, and Messenger Lite can be found right here. If you want to use Messenger Lite, all it takes is finding the app installation file.
By default, many Android smartphones won’t allow this you’ve got to head to the settings menu, go to security, and switch on the ability to install apps from “unknown sources.” (This setting can be switched back off again right away once you’re done, and I recommend doing so.) If you’ve got an Android phone, that is.Īndroid users might be familiar with the process of sideloading an app they’ve downloaded from a source other than the regular Google Play app store. You’re straight up not allowed to install Messenger Lite here.īut there are ways. If you’re walking around a US city carrying an iPhone 7 or Galaxy S8, Facebook is happy to make you and your unlimited data plan put up with all the crud inside the regular Messenger app.
That’s because the app isn’t really intended for those markets it was designed to run on cheap, low-end smartphones and work reliably in regions with iffy data connectivity. But it’s not available in the US, UK, Mexico, Canada, and many other places. Look for Messenger Lite in other countries in the coming months.Posted by Messenger on Friday, October 7, 2016įacebook has released Messenger Lite in over 100 countries. Messenger Lite is starting to roll out in Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela. The Messenger Lite logo has a blue bolt with a white chat bubble background. With Messenger Lite, people are able to quickly and easily send text, photos and links to anyone using Messenger or Messenger Lite. We recently introduced Messenger Lite, a lightweight version of Messenger that is fast and simply designed for older Androids and markets with slower average Internet speeds. Pretty simple.Įmpowering the world to stay connected with Messenger Lite.
And the Profile section is just where you handle settings, notifications, and so on. Next to everyone’s name, it shows when they were last active on Messenger. Contacts is a massive list of your Facebook friends which I think is organized based on who you’ve talked to most recently. Home is a straightforward list of your Messenger chats (with a helpful “Active Now” row of people currently online). There are three tabs: Home, Contacts, and Profile. Who wouldn’t want this? Remember what Messenger was like two or three years ago? This is basically that. Messenger Lite is a dramatically simplified version of the app that’s “faster, uses less data, and works in all network conditions.” Those are Facebook’s own words. Heck, I’d forgotten about it until someone mentioned it in the comments.
But it’s not available in the United States and elsewhere, so a lot of you might be oblivious to its existence. Over 200 million people are using it around the world. If you’re tired of Messenger Day and seeing games you’ll never play, I come to you with good news: there’s a much simpler version of Facebook Messenger that strips out all the nonsense. Commenters on that story agree, and so does pretty much everyone I’ve asked here at Vox Media’s New York office. But despite the company’s attempt at some cleanup, I came away with the same feeling I’ve had for months: Messenger has transformed into a bloated mess. Earlier today I published an article about Facebook Messenger’s new, somewhat improved home screen.