New Facebook Messenger Lite App Is Four Times Smaller Than Original Version

Facebook wants to expend its social network and offer people all over the world access to and has a number initiative in effect to focus on the task at hand. This includes the launch of Facebook Messenger Lite for Android, a standalone stripped down version of its messenger app that debuted in 2011. As CNET reports, this new release is smaller than its predecessor and is specially designed for older model Android smartphones.

We live in a mobile where storage space and battery life are precious and the easy to download and install Facebook Messenger Lite app has a small carbon footprint. It takes up just 10 megabytes of Android's storage space, significantly smaller in comparison to the original bloated Messenger app which is 43 megabytes large. That's over 4 times the size of the new skinny version of itself. “With Messenger Lite, more people can stay in contact, regardless of network conditions or storage limitations on their Android devices," reads a Facebook blog post from engineering manager for Messenger Lite, Tom Mulcahy.

So how was Facebook able to scale down Messenger to play nicely with older model Android phones? According to one Facebook exec, the idea was to prioritize. “ The key to scaling down Messenger to run on older Android phones was to prioritize features that people were using most, such as sending text, links and photos ,” head of Facebook Messenger, Stan Chudnovsky told CNET. "No messaging service today would be really robust if you couldn't send pictures and videos," Chudnovsky said.

As the Verge points out, despite its lightweight size, Messenger Lite lets users access the same core functions and features as the original Messenger app. You can still enjoy receiving fun stickers, sending and receiving texts, pictures as well as links. This release of Messenger Lite comes months after Facebook announced its milestone of over 1 billion active users.

Designed to offer people an engaging Messenger experience, no matter what technology they use or access. Messenger Lite is already rolling out to countries all over the globe.