Meta is shutting down Messenger Lite for Android in September | TechCrunch
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Meta is shutting down Messenger Lite, its lightweight stripped-down version of Messenger, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
  • Meta is retiring Messenger Lite, a simpler version of Messenger aimed at phones with lower-end specs.
  • The app was introduced in 2016 for Android users and had been downloaded about 760 million times globally, with India being the top user.
  • Although there was an iOS version, it was closed in 2020. - In other news, Messenger will stop supporting SMS next month, and Meta aims to add end-to-end encryption to Messenger chats by year’s end.
  • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgEnglish
    14·
    1 year ago

    Question: do the “Lite” apps like Messenger Lite and Facebook Lite track less data than their regular counterparts? I use Facebook Lite under this assumption, but I’m realizing that I based this on no real evidence.

    • Artemis@lemmy.mlEnglish
      21·
      1 year ago

      The lite version has 4 fewer trackers and 20-ish fewer requested permissions…still pretty crazy. Check them out on Exodus

    • ijeff@lemdro.idOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I believe it’s the same between the two. You can check under the Data Safety section on the Play Store page though.

    • Hunter2English
      2·
      1 year ago

      Pretty sure the “lite” version were just decluttered versions with features missing and better optimization (usually aimed at developing countries). They likely track as much (well, probably not as much because there’s no point in tracking stuff that the app doesn’t support).

      I’ve actually noticed they started decluttering the messenger app. Rooms are gone and they’ve also removed the chat suggestion bubbles at the top. So when you launch the app you only see the conversations you have active.

  • catlover@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    121·
    1 year ago

    ah goddamn. i don’t want to use the messenger app its so full of useless stuff. i always used the bare minimum of facebook, used to chat on mbasic.facebook.com, but they removed it as well. wish i could just not use it, i only ise the chat features, but too many ppl in my life just use it and would be a pain to convince them to use something else.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    9·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The app offers only the core features Messenger in order to hog less storage space and processing power.

    Although Meta launched Messenger Lite for iOS, the company shut it down in 2020.

    The news comes as Meta recently announced that Messenger is dropping SMS support next month.

    The company notified users that they “will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent by your cellular network when you update your app after September 28, 2023.”

    Earlier this week, Meta said it plans to enable end-to-end encryption by default for Messenger by the end of this year.

    The tech giant is also expanding its test of end-to-end encryption features to “millions more people’s chats.”

    The original article contains 233 words, the summary contains 118 words. Saved 49%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • tommy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    I tried using lite version but there were so many features missing that I had to give up. Also, my biggest privacy dream currently is to witch from messenger to signal. Not possible tho

    • ijeff@lemdro.idOPMEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      I’ve actually just started using Beeper instead of Messenger. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty neat having it all hooked into Matrix.

  • petrescatraian@libranet.de
    1·
    1 year ago

    @ijeff That’s too bad. If only they added dark mode and reply support this could’ve been my go-to app for Facebook messenger. These were the only two things missing for me - I don’t care about the rest.