… And finally Messenger Lite for Android arrives, almost surprisingly!
When we told you about alternatives to Facebook we did mainly because the main app is heavy on performance; in addition, Facebook also requires a fair amount of Internet data, which in the alternatives - especially Facebook Lite - does not exist.
And it is exactly with lightness and speed in mind that Messenger Lite is born, another alternative to Facebook Messenger… but this time official!
Messenger Lite: what it is
As it is easy to guess from the video, Messenger Lite is the "light" and official alternative to Facebook Messenger: it allows you to get all the basic features for a good messaging experience in Facebook. With it it is possible send and receive messages, images, links and receive stickers. Basically Facebook has unbundled from Messenger Lite all those Messenger features that have transformed it into a service platform. Apparently there are no bots available, much less the possibility of sending money or performing other "special" operations.
Messenger Lite weighs less than 10MB, so it installs and boots quickly. It includes basic Messenger features such as messaging, sending and receiving photos and links, and receiving stickers.
In short, it is the non plus ultra for all those who they want simply exchange messages via Facebook, without using a lot of resources on the device nor a large amount of Internet data. It is no coincidence that this app is designed for emerging markets: the inhabitants often cannot afford top-of-the-range devices or particularly fast Internet connections.
Messenger Lite uses the same logo as Messenger, but with the colors reversed. The lightning bolt is blue, surrounded by a white balloon.
The messaging app was initially made available in Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Distribution will gradually be expanded to other emerging markets. It is highly likely that, like its sister Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite will not make it to our market.
However, an APK is available online: let's read our guide together to understand how to use this app! Before leaving you to it the question arises: do you want to see that, after the spread, they will be removed from Facebook Lite the messaging features? Just like with the main app and the mobile web version?
Messenger Lite: how to use it
The first thing to do is download the APK directly from the link below:
DOWNLOAD | Messenger (Lite) (APKMirror)
We install Messenger Lite on our device remembering, if necessary, to unlock the installation from Unknown Sources.
The first screen of the app speaks for itself: we will have to enter our login credentials to Facebook; moreover, just like on Messenger, Lite also allows you to log in without a Facebook account.
At this point the game is done: we will find ourselves in front of our contact list and we can immediately start a conversation. As already mentioned it is possible to send and receive text, images (also taken at the moment) e link e only receive stickers.
Furthermore, from the Settings menu we can decide the behavior of the notifications, possibly hide the sender and / or the message text from it or change the color of the LED if present. Missing in Messenger Lite - at least for the moment - the option to log out!
Let's talk a little about performance: Messenger Lite is really very light e it does not significantly affect resources; this also makes it suitable for low-end Android terminals. To save data, sent / received images and stickers come slightly lowered in quality.
If we use both Messenger Lite and Facebook Lite, it would be optimal disable message notifications from the latter - since they will otherwise arrive duplicated.
After trying it, we feel comfortable to say that Messenger Lite is an excellent compromise between functionality and lightness. Too bad for the absence from the English Play Store: in the event that we decide to install and use it, we will have to search for updates manually.
Messenger Lite: the alternative to Messenger on Facebook
