This in all probability doesn’t imply a lot within the broader scheme, and can in all probability have pretty restricted affect, given the enlargement of community expertise. However Meta has begun informing Android customers that its Messenger Lite app will quickly be shut down utterly.
As first reported by 9 to 5 Google, Messenger Lite customers on Android are actually seeing a brand new pop-up message within the app informing them that will probably be sundown as of September 18th. Messenger Lite on iOS was additionally shut down back in 2020.
As per 9 to 5 Google:
“For some, opening the app at the moment reveals a fullscreen “use Messenger to maintain chatting” There will probably be no affect to dialog historical past: “We all know your chats are necessary to you, so all the things from Messenger Lite continues to be obtainable in Messenger.”
So, evidently, given the development of connective networks, Meta sees little use to maintain supporting the separate Messenger Lite app, which is designed for customers with restricted gadget area, and low connectivity, as a way to join them into the broader Meta community.
Initially launched in 2016, Messenger Lite reached 50 million Google Play Store downloads only a yr later, underlining the demand for a lo-fi model of Meta’s messaging platform in varied areas. However six years on, and with cellular adoption persevering with to rise, evidently there’s no need for the separate model of the platform anymore, with extra folks now ready to make use of the full-functioned Messenger app to interact in digital chats.
We requested Meta concerning the choice, and it offered this assertion:
“Beginning August 21, folks utilizing the Messenger Lite app for Android will probably be directed to Messenger or FB Lite to ship and obtain messages on Messenger.”
So fairly brief on element, however Meta continues to be supporting Fb Lite as an choice, at the very least in the interim.
As famous, the affect will probably be minimal, given the broader enlargement of extra superior choices, however it’s price noting the change in Meta’s product path.
Meta, after all, can be trying to scale back prices wherever it could, and it could possibly be that the lesser-used Messenger Lite is just not well worth the funding anymore.
So extra folks will probably be on Messenger as an alternative, whereas Fb Lite might see an inflow of customers. As famous by TechCrunch, Meta can be shutting down assist for SMS on Messenger subsequent month.
