Facebook is THE social network. There’s a good chance that you are one of the billion people who use Facebook every day. And, if you’re on Facebook, there’s a high chance that you have it official Android apps installed on your device i.e. Facebook and Facebook Messenger. Well, here’s a piece of advice – uninstall both of them. Why? Because there are better alternatives. And, they, too, are offered by Facebook. They are Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite.
So, why you should replace the main versions of these apps with the Lite Version of Facebook & Messenger Apps? Simple, because they are better for your device. Let’s take one app at a time and get into details.
Facebook lite requires less storage than the original app. Right now, the app is under 2 MB and once installed, it could go up to 4 MB of storage. However, the official app is 67 MB and can easily take up to 200 MB of storage after some usage. See a big difference?
There’s no doubt that the original app has a well-organized layout, smooth animations, and better features. But, in order to provide a smooth experience, it loads up information in the background. All this leads to huge data consumption. So that’s two cons – more storage requirement and data consumption.
The lite version, however, is the complete opposite. It looks unpolished and may remind you of the feature phone version of the app. But is that a bad thing? I believe it’s not. Why? Because it is low in storage and data consumption. It’s still usable, user-friendly, and can get the work done.
You can easily browse the newsfeed, send and respond to friend requests, post in groups, comment on a status, and message your friends. Yes, you can even send messages via this app. You don’t need to download another resource hungry app called Facebook Messenger that can take up another 150 MB of storage.
Additionally, it doesn’t preload information like the original app does. When it comes to images, it loads the preview in low resolution and shows the higher version only when you tap on it.
All this is enough for me to ditch the Facebook app and switch to its lite version.
When it comes to Messenger lite; it’s better than the original app too. Why? The same reason. As I mentioned above, Facebook Messenger is a resource intensive app and can take up to 150 MB of storage. It’s also consistently running in the background.
Honestly, I find the UI of Messenger lite much better than the Facebook Messenger app. The app is very straightforward. There are just three tabs: messages, contacts, and the settings tab. The overall experience is very minimal. Of course, to keep the app lightweight, Facebook, did get rid of a few features. If you switch to lite, you would lose some features like video calling, chat heads, GIFS, app extensions, etc. But, you also get rid of some annoying features like bots, constant reminders to sync contacts, messenger day, etc. That’s a trade I’m willing to make.
Facebook says that these lite apps are “faster, uses less data, and works in all network conditions.” Now, who wouldn’t want that?
Join The Discussion: