{Facebook has announced a “slimmed down” version of its Messenger app for countries where older smartphones and slower net speeds are more common.}<\/p>\n
The company said Messenger Lite had the “core features” of the full app such as the ability to share text and photos.<\/p>\n
The app will compete with Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which the company says is used by more than a billion people.<\/p>\n
One analyst said offering a stripped-back service for developing markets would “drive adoption of services”.<\/p>\n
“Targeting users in emerging markets with ‘lite’ apps is not a new phenomenon,” said Jack Kent, of the IHS Markit consultancy.<\/p>\n
“Companies such as Google and Line also offer streamlined services for users in emerging markets.<\/p>\n
“It makes sense to provide streamlined service to drive adoption of services rather than monetise users immediately.”<\/p>\n
Facebook was criticised in June after it removed access to messages from its mobile website, in an attempt to steer people to use the Messenger app.<\/p>\n
Stan Chudnovsky, head of product at Facebook Messenger, said the company found people sent more messages when messenger was offered as a separate app.<\/p>\n
He told BBC News people also found it easier to discover new features when they were not “buried” inside the bigger Facebook experience.<\/p>\n
The company has slimmed the Messenger Lite app down to under 10MB, so it takes up less space on smartphones with limited storage.<\/p>\n
That is up to 95% smaller than the full-size Messenger app, which case top 150MB on Android devices.<\/p>\n
The Lite app will be released for Android devices in Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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