Users of Messenger Lite, the bite-size application that allows users to chat with their friends while not having to worry about runaway data costs and space on their smartphones, are getting some more love from Facebook. The company has announced that it is bringing the ability to make video calls to the barebones app.
“Now people who use Messenger Lite can have the same rich and expressive face-to-face conversations as those who use the core Messenger app, no matter which technology they use or have access to,” reads a statement from the company.
Messenger Lite is part of an approach by several companies including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Google, among others, that seeks to embrace users of their various services in areas where resource use (i.e. data costs and storage space) is an issue.
Launched in October 2016, Messenger Lite offers core messaging capabilities like sending text, photos, links, and audio calls to people with either Messenger Lite or the main Messenger app installed.
In August last year, the app hit a milestone: the 50 million download mark on the Google Play Store. Today, the install count stands at between 100 and 500 million which is mind-blowing by all means.
According to Facebook, the number of video chats made on Messenger doubled to stand at 17 billion compared to the year before (2016). This year, that number will go even higher given this latest development.
Messenger Lite is exclusive to the Android platform.
