Meta plans to discontinue the "Messenger Lite" app on Android devices
US internet services company Meta Platforms intends to stop running Messenger Lite, the lighter and limited version of the Messenger instant messaging app on Android smartphones.
The TechCrunch website - which specializes in technical issues - indicated that users of the application have begun to receive messages recommending that they use the "Messenger" version instead of "Messenger Lite" so that they can continue to talk to others.
The Messenger Lite app has also been removed from the Google Play Store for new users and will not be available to existing users after September 18th.
"Starting August 21, those using the Messenger Lite app on Android devices will be instructed to use Messenger (or FB Lite) to send and receive messages through the Messenger app," a Meta spokesperson said.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, introduced Messenger Lite for Android in 2016 for those using smart and less powerful devices.
This application only provides the main functions of the "Messenger" application so that it takes only a small amount of device memory and consumes less amount of its processor power.
Although "Meta" launched a version of the "Messenger Lite" application for devices running the "iOS" operating system, it stopped running it on these devices in 2020.
According to the data analysis company for the mobile device market "Data AI", about 760 million copies of the "Messenger Lite" application have been downloaded since its launch in 2016, as India is the largest country that uses it, followed by Brazil and Indonesia, while the United States ranks eighth in the list. Countries. The most downloaded app.
The announcement of Messenger Lite being discontinued on Android devices comes shortly after Meta announced its intention to cut SMS support from the Messenger app next month.
Meta told users that they "will no longer be able to use Messenger to send or receive SMS text messages sent over cellular networks when the app is updated after September 28, 2023."