{"id":115650,"date":"2018-12-17T18:47:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T18:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=115650"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:38:08","slug":"messenger-lite-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/messenger-lite-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook is packing a lot of cool new features into the tiny Messenger Lite app"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-115656\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"facebook and messenger lite\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-664x374.jpg 664w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-238x134.jpg 238w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-436x246.jpg 436w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-304x170.jpg 304w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/12\/Facebook-and-Messenger-buttons.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Facebook has grown exponentially since it first burst onto the scene. It has grown so much that it needed to split its main services into two apps: the Facebook app handles all of the classic social network activity while Facebook Messenger handles all of the direct messaging activity.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in true Facebook style, both of these apps have grown and grown since that fateful split occurred. They\u2019ve grown so much that they themselves needed to be split. We now have the full Facebook and Messenger apps and the much more limited Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite apps, which only take up a few megabytes and offer very limited versions of their respective experiences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-starred-link\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-starred-link__img\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/04\/facebook-vs-lite-1024x576.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__col-title\">\r\n        <p class=\"sc-card-starred-link__title\">Facebook vs Facebook Lite: What are the differences between the apps?<\/p>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-starred-link__button\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-vs-facebook-lite-what-are-the-differences-between-the-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer sponsored\">Read Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-starred-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-vs-facebook-lite-what-are-the-differences-between-the-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer sponsored\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>With such a history behind the Lite Facebook apps, it should probably come as no surprise that they themselves are due to grow and take on new features.<\/p>\n<h2>Messenger Lite is getting animated GIF support and other features from the full-size app<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/messengernews.fb.com\/2018\/12\/05\/express-yourself-with-messenger-lite\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In a recent blog post<\/a>, Facebook outlined a number of changes and few new features coming to the Messenger Lite app. New features coming to a Lite app could mean that it becomes a little less \u201clite\u201d, but according to the blog post, even with the new features crammed in, <strong>Messenger Lite still comes in at less than 10MB.<\/strong> So, let\u2019s look at these new features in a little more detail.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Messenger Lite\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-l,f_auto,dpr_auto\/p\/b0764f56-9b6e-11e6-a2f8-00163ec9f5fa\/1303918567\/messenger-lite-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Messenger Lite<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/messenger-lite.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Now<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--90\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"90\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"9\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">9<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/messenger-lite.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Messenger Lite has always had GIF support, but they\u2019ve never been animated. All you could send was a frozen screenshot. Now this has changed. Speaking in the blog post announcing the update, Product Manager, Krish Gali, Said, \u201cWhile you could receive GIFs in Messenger Lite for some time, they were not animated. Starting now, people can express themselves more in chats with family and friends by sending and playing animated GIFs\u2026 To send a GIF, use a third-party keyboard (such as the Google keyboard), search for GIFs in their library, and send a more expressive message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The other features coming to Messenger Lite, that mirror <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/messenger-4-simple-redesign\/\">recent changes to full Messenger app<\/a>, include more customization options for chats and groups. When the update drops, Lite users will be able to change the color schemes of chats with different people and groups and will also have access to more emojis.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More on Messenger<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"How to read messages on Facebook Messenger without the sender knowing \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-read-messages-on-facebook-messenger-without-the-sender-knowing\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-l,f_auto,dpr_auto\/p\/a9cd6d1e-9160-11e6-a886-00163ec9f5fa\/3982978050\/unseen-logo.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to read messages on Facebook Messenger without the sender knowing \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"The best hidden games on Facebook Messenger \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/the-best-hidden-games-on-facebook-messenger\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/facebook-messenger-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>The best hidden games on Facebook Messenger \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"10 Facebook Messenger tricks and secrets that will amaze your friends \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/tricks-and-secrets-on-facebook-messenger-that-will-amaze-your-friends\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/1252182_630x354-568x319.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>10 Facebook Messenger tricks and secrets that will amaze your friends \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"How to see your chat history on Messenger \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-see-your-chat-history-on-facebook-messenger\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/02\/fb-messenger-2-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to see your chat history on Messenger \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>All-in-all these changes mark a positive upgrade on the very basic Messenger Lite experience. Although it is impressive to see how much Facebook has squeezed into the Lite versions of its two main apps, they do both offer rather basic, and sometimes frustrating, experiences. As long as added features don\u2019t slow down app performance or take up a lot more space on users\u2019 phones, they\u2019ll always be a welcome addition. Top work on the new features, but more growth for the Lite apps please Facebook.<\/p>\n<!-- Shortcode [playwire] does not match the conditions -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Messenger Lite gets animated GIF support and other features from the full-size app<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9073,"featured_media":115656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[1015],"tags":[2689,1059,1040,1035],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-115650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionmessenger-lite","tag-facebook","tag-messaging-apps","tag-social-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326891,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115650\/revisions\/326891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115650"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=115650"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=115650"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=115650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}