Facebook’s Messenger Lite adds animated GIF support and more but stays light

Image: Facebook via AFP Relaxnews

The data-efficient version of Facebook Messenger now looks more like the original than ever, all while still being under 10 megabytes to download.

Facebook announced on yesterday, Dec. 5 a handful of new features coming to Messenger Lite, a data-light version of the classic Messenger application.

Before this update, Messenger Lite users could receive GIFs, but they couldn’t actually play them — they were just still, unanimated images. As of this week, GIFs became what they were intended to be: animated clips!

Now, users can send and receive these brief, soundless files; Facebook recommends using a third-party keyboard like the Google Gboard to send them.

Additionally, nearly all the conversation customization features that are present in Messenger Lite’s data-heavy counterpart are available in this version. Individual conversations can be colored, people and groups can be nicknamed, and chat emojis can be changed. Plus, you can now share files, images, videos and audio files through the application.

So, if you’re using a device with a lower bandwidth or an earlier generation Android device, you now have nearly all the same capabilities that the original has with far less storage consumption. If you can handle a slightly different interface and fewer capabilities in turn for a faster communication experience, Messenger Lite is a good alternative. KM

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