Messenger Lite For Android Launched In US, Canada And Other Countries
Facebook has launched the ‘Lite’ version of its data inhaling app, Messenger for Facebook in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. The app is an Android-only app so far and was primarily targeted at people who live in areas where the internet isn’t equipped enough to handle the data intensive tasks of the regular Messenger app. But, the expansion of the app to Facebook’s top developed markets mean that people who want to save data charges like teenagers can take advantage of the app. However, Facebook has no plans as of now to introduce the app for iOS devices.
We’re excited to bring Messenger Lite to Android users in four new markets, including Canada, Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S. Messenger Lite is a slimmed-down version of Messenger that offers the core features of the app, while giving everyone the opportunity to stay connected to their friends and family, regardless of device or quality of internet connectivity.
Lead by India and Brazil in terms of downloads, the Messenger Lite was first introduced in October 2016 in five countries before its near global expansion in April. As mentioned earlier, this rollout could be beneficial for Facebook as potential low data costs could help the company attract teenagers who are active on the social media platform and want to stay in touch at all times. The Messenger Lite app could help them make full use of the app’s core features while skimming out on the data charges.
One of the main reasons cited by Facebook to introduce Messenger Lite was that there are over a billion people who still don’t have access to high speed 3G or 4G network. This move to bring the Lite app in developed markets with proven high speed internet means that the company can now target people who like to cut costs but, not necessarily like to give up using their phones for chatting.
