Recently, Meta revealed that they will be shutting down their lightweight messaging application Messenger Lite for Android. The existing users will start to see a popup saying, “Use Messenger to keep chatting.” In addition, Messenger Lite has been removed from the Play Store, and the existing users will not be able to use it after September 18.
Meta, formerly Facebook, introduced Messenger Lite in 2016 to simplify the texting process with their lightweight application. The Messenger Lite application consumes less space and processing power yet brings the core messenger features.
However, Meta has also released Messenger Lite for iOS, but the company pulled it back in 2020.
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As per analytics firm firmdata.ai, the application has more than 760 million downloads globally, with India holding the major share. Evidently, the application is popular among individuals who don’t have a powerful smartphone with great processing power and storage.
“Starting August 21, people using the Messenger Lite app for Android will be directed to Messenger or FB Lite to send and receive messages on Messenger,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email.
Earlier this week, the social media giant shared that they are planning for the end-to-end encryption for Messenger by the end of this year.
What’s the Reason for the Meta Shutdown?
Despite being a lightweight application, Messenger Lite for Android was a power-packed application with all the necessary features. It had all the essential functionalities like allowing you to chat with an individual or create a group for doing the same.
However, the reason for shutting down this much-needed and widely used application is not revealed by Meta.
Backed by an engineering background, Abhishek is a techno-geek with an intense passion for research-based writing. With more than five years of industry experience, he finds the transition to content writing challenging and exciting. On holiday, you can spot him cooking his comfort food and vibing on Sidhu Moosewala’s songs.
Abhishek Yadav
