messenger lite app
Messenger Lite login interface (Facebook)

Messenger Lite, the data-efficient version of the Facebook Messenger, has just made available to more international markets. Starting Wednesday, the app is being rolled out in countries like the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK.

Facebook begins cutting across the borders of developing countries for the Messenger Lite app as it is now being released to more progressive countries. First released in more than 100 developing countries, Messenger Lite in the US, Canada, Ireland, and the UK is available for Android users.

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Messenger Lite is ideal for places with weak bandwidth or locations where data means fortune. Messenger Lite ditches Messenger Day and selfie lenses that are normally the suspects for consuming too much data. Facebook has not confirmed yet if the app will also be released to iOS users.

"We're excited to bring Messenger Lite to Android users in four new markets, including Canada, Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S.," says Facebook in a statement. "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."

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A picture shows the Facebook logo on a beach chair at the Facebook office in Berlin, Germany, 29 August 2016 (Stefanie Loos/File Photo/Reuters)

Facebook targets to draw teenage users to the app so they can stay connected with their friends, family and schoolmates without burning some cash for data. This is a strategy the social media giants uses to keep its users at bay instead of them using Snapchat and other means of social communications.

Messenger Lite was first made available in October 2016 in five countries followed by more than 100 countries in April 2017. According to marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Messenger Lite now reached 47 million download times since launch. India and Brazil are the top downloaders.