American internet services company MetaPlatforms wants to stop running Messenger Lite, a lighter and limited version of the Messenger instant messaging app on smart devices running the Android operating system.
“TechCrunch,” a website specializing in technical issues, began receiving messages suggesting that users of the app use the “Messenger” version instead of “Messenger Lite” so that they could continue to talk to others.
The “Messenger Lite” app has also been removed from the “Google Play” online store for new users and will no longer be available for existing users after September 18.
“Starting August 21, users of 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, launched Messenger Lite for Android devices in 2016 for users of smart and low-powered devices.
This application allows only the main functions in the “Messenger” application, so that it takes up only a small amount of memory of the device, and consumes a small amount of its processor power.
Although “Meta” launched a version of the “Messenger Lite” app for devices running on the “iOS” platform, it stopped running on these devices in 2020.
According to “Data AI”, a data analytics firm for the mobile device market, the “Messenger Lite” application has been downloaded around 760 million copies since its launch in 2016, as India is the largest country using it, followed by Brazil and Indonesia, while the US ranks eighth in the list of countries. Most downloaded app.
The announcement that “Messenger Lite” will be discontinued on Android devices comes shortly after Meta announced that it will remove SMS support from the “Messenger” app next month.
“When the app is updated after September 28, 2023, users will no longer be able to use Messenger to send or receive SMS messages sent over cellular networks,” Meta told users.
“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”
