Facebook Launching Messenger Lite In The U.S. — But Only For Android Users

If you don’t need a special selfie lens that puts a wagging animals ears and a pink cartoon tongue onto your face when you’re communicating with your friends — or just want to save on mobile data — Facebook is now launching its Messenger Lite Android app in U.S.

Messenger Lite is expanding to the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the U.K, after initially only being available in mostly developing countries.

The idea behind Messenger Lite is to cut down on how much data you need to use it, whether you’re somewhere without a reliable network connection or you have a tight monthly data budget.

“Messenger Lite is a slimmed-down version of Messenger that offers the core features of the app, while giving everyone the opportunity to stay connected to their friends and family, regardless of device or quality of internet connectivity,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch.

So what’s the difference? Lite doesn’t include all the bells and whistles of traditional Messenger — read: data draining functions — so you won’t have any selfie lenses or be able to access Facebook’s “Messenger Day” feature.

Instead, it simply allows users to send and receive messages, photos, links, and stickers. So it’s a lot like texting — but within the confines of Facebook instead of via traditional SMS. And that’s exactly how Facebook wants it.

Again, the app is only available for Android users at this point, so iOS users will simply have to rely on one of the plethora of other messaging options available.