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Facebook Messenger goes on diet, launches Messenger Lite for Android devices

By Vijay Anand & Peter Chu - on 4 Oct 2016, 12:39am

Facebook's Messenger goes on diet, launches Messenger Lite for Android devices

Facebook Messenger Lite sounds good, but it's not yet available for Singapore users.

Facebook has launched a lightweight version of its Messenger app, called Messenger Lite.

Designed specifically for consumers using older Android phones – or living in regions with limited internet connectivity – Messenger Lite is built from the ground up with a simplified interface that’s not only fast and responsive, but also easy on battery life and mobile data.

Messenger Lite is almost similar to the standard Messenger app in terms of functionality. You can send and receive photos, stickers, links, and likes, but unfortunately not animated gifs, due to their data-hungry nature.

Unlike the standard Facebook Messenger app, which has a download size of approximately 42MB, Messenger Lite will only take up 10MB of your device’s storage space, and will consume minimal RAM to prevent slowdowns on older Android devices. And by that we mean Android devices that are still running on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.

The comparatively small file size also means that you’ll be able to download it faster as well, especially if you’re in an area with a less-than-stellar internet connection. Ze'ev Rosenstein, Product Manager at Facebook, mentioned in a video conference that Messenger Lite should work fine with slower connection speeds like GPRS and EDGE.

Our neighbouring country Malaysia is one of the first few countries in the world to be introduced to Messenger Lite (downloadable from today on Google Play Store), alongside Honduras, Kenya, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Messenger Lite will be launched in more countries over the next few months, but we somehow doubt if Singapore would be on their consideration list.

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