Facebook Messenger Lite Finally Gets Video Chatting

Compared to other Facebook apps, Messenger Lite is still relatively new. Aimed at users who have older Android devices or slower internet connections, Messenger Lite first launched in emerging markets at the end of 2016. Fast forward about a year and a half later and Messenger Lite has launched in many places around the world as a no-frills version of Messenger proper, dropping many of the extra features that have made their way into the main app over the years.

Still, some features are more necessary than others, and we shouldn't be surprised to see Facebook bring those to Messenger Lite. One such feature is video chatting, which Facebook is bringing to Messenger Lite today. Though new features are probably going to be a somewhat rare sight for Messenger Lite, video chatting is definitely one that has become a core part of the Messenger experience.

Facebook even gave us an idea of just how popular video chatting has become in the standard version of Messenger, stating that 2017 saw a whopping 17 billion video chats. That's twice as many video chats as compared to 2016, so the feature is definitely growing in popularity among Messenger's user base.

Getting a video chat rolling on Messenger Lite is a pretty straightforward process, as it only involves finding an existing conversation or picking someone from your contact list then tapping the video icon that appears in the upper right corner of your chat window. Messenger Lite users can also upgrade in-progress audio calls to video calls by tapping the video icon that appears in the lower right corner of the screen.

So, there you have it. Video chatting probably isn't the most exciting new feature here in 2018, but Facebook's numbers show that it's a necessary one for Messenger Lite. Video chatting is going live today in the Android version of Messenger Lite, so update your app and give it a spin.