Facebook adds video chat to Messenger Lite

Facebook’s Messenger Lite app — a stripped down, bloat-free version of the eponymous chat app — now has video calling.

Messenger Lite is the social network’s attempt to penetrate the low-network speed, budget smartphone bracket by stripping the Messenger experience to its core.

Features like Facebook Stories (formerly Messenger Day) is not available in the app, but it also lacked other useful features like video calling when it launched last year.

However, that’s set to change.

“In 2017, there were 17-billion video chats in Messenger, twice as many video chats compared to 2016,” Facebook explains in an update, suggesting that video is one of Messenger’s biggest drivers.

“Now people who use Messenger Lite can have the same rich and expressive face-to-face conversations as those who use the core Messenger app, no matter which technology they use or have access to.”

Users can video call their buddies by tapping on the video icon on the top right corner of the chat screen.

“You can also upgrade an audio call to a video chat while still in the call by tapping the video icon in the bottom right corner of the screen,” Facebook adds.

The update will begin rolling out today for Android users.

Feature image: Facebook