Meta is discontinuing Messenger Lite, the light version of Messenger. Users of the app start seeing a message advising them to "use Messenger to continue communicating." The app has been removed from the Google Play Store for new users and will stop working from September 18 onwards for current users.
"Starting August 21st, people using the Messenger Lite app for Android will be directed to Messenger or FB Lite to send and receive Messenger messages," Reported to TechCrunch a Meta representative.
Meta introduced Messenger Lite for Android in 2016 for users with less powerful Android devices. The app offers only the essential features of Messenger to save storage space and processing power.
Meta also released Messenger Lite for iOS, but discontinued it as of 2020.
According to data.ai, Lite versions of the app have had around 760 million downloads worldwide, with India accounting for the largest share, followed by Brazil and Indonesia. The United States ranks No. 8.
Meta recently announced that Messenger is dropping support for SMS starting next month. The company told users that they "will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent from your network starting September 28, 2023."
Earlier this week, Meta said it plans to enable end-to-end encryption by default on Messenger by the end of this year.
