Hate Messenger? Lighten Up

If you’re still using Facebook, chances are you have received a message from a friend via Facebook Messenger. And if you use Facebook Messenger, chances are you hate it. In 2015 it was documented as one of the most hated apps available.

Yet billions of users have it on their phones.

And it turns out the crowded interface and invasive privacy settings aren’t the only reasons to hate it. With the recent news that Facebook allowed millions of profiles to be surreptitiously pilfered, new vulnerabilities have also been exposed in their messaging tool.

One possible solution is to forego the mobile apps altogether, just use Facebook and the messaging service using your smartphone’s web browser. It’s far from optimal and, if you’re eyes are as bad as mine, difficult to see what you’re doing.

But there is a better way! It’s called Messenger Lite.

For years there has been a low-bandwidth version of Facebook Messenger available for Android users in developing countries. In the U.S. or UK the only way to get it was by downloading the Android APK (while not super techie that does require temporarily changing some settings on your phone).

This article from Wired magazine explains it in greater detail: DITCH FACEBOOK MESSENGER. USE MESSENGER LITE INSTEAD

Now the Messenger Lite app is officially available from the Google Play Store. And while you’re there consider the slimmed down version of Facebook itself! The Facebook Lite app is currently in Beta.

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