Earlier nowadays I published an article concerning Facebook Messenger’s new, somewhat improved home screen. however despite the organization’s attempt at some cleanup, I came away with the same feeling I’ve had for months: messenger has transformed into a bloated mess. Commenters on that story agree, and so does just about everybody I’ve asked here at vox Media’s New York workplace. If you are tired of messenger Day and seeing games you’ll ne’er play, I come to you with sensible news: there’s a much simpler version of Facebook messenger that strips out all the nonsense.
That version is called messenger lite. And it’s not wise a secret. Over 200 million folks are using it around the world. however it’s not available in the u. s. and elsewhere, thus a lot of you might be oblivious to its existence. Heck, I’d forgotten concerning it until somebody mentioned it in the comments.
Messenger lite is a dramatically simplified version of the application that’s “faster, uses less information, and works in all network conditions.” Those are Facebook’s own words. who wouldn’t need this? keep in mind what messenger was like 2 or 3 years ago? this is essentially that. There are 3 tabs: Home, Contacts, and Profile. home is a simple list of your messenger chats (with a useful “Active Now” row of individuals presently online). Contacts is a massive list of your Facebook friends which i think is organized based on who you’ve talked to latest. Next to everyone’s name, it shows when they were last active on messenger. and also the Profile section is simply where you handle settings, notifications, and so on. Pretty simple.
Facebook has free messenger lite in over 100 countries. however it’s not available in the United States, UK, Mexico, Canada, and many different places. That’s because the app is not extremely intended for those markets, it was designed to run on low-cost, low-end smartphones and work reliably in regions with iffy information connectivity. If you are walking around a United States town carrying an iPhone 7 or Galaxy S8, Facebook is happy to create you and your unlimited information idea put up with all the crud inside the regular messenger application.
However there are ways. If you have got an Android phone, that is.
Android enjoyer might be conversant in the process of side-loading an application they’ve downloaded from a supply other than the regular Google Play store. By default, many android smartphones won’t permit this; you have got to head to the settings menu, visit security, and activate the ability to put in applications from “unknown sources.” (This setting can be switched back off again quickly once you are done, and i suggest doing thus.)
Don’t miss Facebook News:
- A new JavaScript framework for building basic VR apps, Facebook launches React VR
- Facebook Messenger offers group video chat latest Messenger feature ever
- Facebook launches human-curated Featured Events list
If you need to use messenger lite, all it takes is finding the application installation file. APKMirror is a trustworthy supply of such things, you’ll download it directly onto most android phones for immediate installation; simply make sure you have updated your security settings to allow the install. If you are on a desktop computer, you’ll simply email the file to yourself or drop it into Google Drive and access it from your phone that way, too.
Read More About Facebook:
- On July 29,Facebook is shuttering its news app Paper
- Play Soccer in Facebook Messenger
- Facebook Messenger now lets you send SMS text messages from Android smartphones
FB messenger and messenger lite can live side by side on your phone while not abundant issue, therefore you’ll try the streamlined version to create sure it’s got everything you need before uninstalling the full-blown messenger application. In my relatively frame-set time using it, I’ve created some notes.
You lose some arguably best ingredient, together with
- GIFs
- Video and Voice calling
- App extensions
- Android: Chat heads
- Android: The ability to use Messenger as your texting app / SMS Emoji icon
There aren’t any attractive face filters here; there’s not even a inbuilt camera in this version of messenger. however you’ll send folks stickers and emoji to your heart’s content. And although voice calling is missing, you’ve got the choice to send folks recorded, voice memo-style snippets. I do miss Chat Heads an Android-exclusive feature of messenger that lets a conversation continue your screen at all times however i will gladly sacrifice them for this superb simplicity.
Deplorable, I’ve got no help for you iPhone consumer. Facebook simply won’t allow you to install messenger lite from the Application Store in countries where it’s not available, therefore you are hosed. I’d recommend bare telling Facebook that folks all over are very much interested in using this application.
