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It looks like Facebook will be forcing me to switch to Messenger. What are my options?
Today when I opened Messenger Lite there was a message from Meta saying " your chats will be moving to Messenger" and that Messenger Lite will stop working on September 18. I actively switched from Messenger to Messenger Lite several years ago because the regular Messenger app was draining my battery. Are there any alternatives to Messenger Lite on Android? Perhaps even FOSS?Or will my only option be to move to the old Messenger app if I want to use Facebook messenger? I have some work related groups on Messenger that would be tough to move to another platform, so Please don't just say "use Signal" or something similar.
Can I ask why?
Honestly, if people are going to migrate to a new app, why not move to something more secure and 'safer' especially in a professional environment?
They’re not moving platforms, OP is moving apps because Facebook is deprecating their alternative client for messenger. Most people don’t use lite so are unaffected.
Because I'm the only one in my work group who has any issue with moving to regular Messenger. The rest of the group aren't going to switch to some alternative. It's just me.
Ah, makes sense! Apologies if I didn't see that in your post mate.
Guess it depends if you want to push them! I can't say I'd rely on anything Facebook for work alas, but I know sometimes it just becomes the default and path of least resistence.
Hope it works out dude.
Wouldn't be the first group splintered by the switch to/away from some chat app.
It should in theory be easier to switch a group of people you have RL connections to, but if they aren't interested in switching in order to keep contact, that may say something about the value of your acquaintance with them. Sad realities of life.
But doom and gloom aside, I hope Beeper works out for you.
I understand your point but I also completely disagree.
There is nothing that makes it as easy to interact as social media. I finished another cross stitch project just now, and I want to show it to people - posting it to my Instagram is a click of a few buttons, and yet dozens will see it and think "oh cool" and maybe press a button to react or maybe a message. Similarly will I think "huh that's nice" when one of my friends posts a good view to their story or something, and maybe have a short conversation about it.
If I had to send the picture of my finished cross stitch individually, to every single person in my life, that would take like half an hour. Instead, everyone in my circle can see it on their feed super easily. It is the best and easiest way to stay engaged in one another's life.
Not everybody you know is going to be a great and close friend - I would never write a personal message to those in my periphery, say a cousin I only otherwise see twice a year. But it's still nice to check in with them once in a while, if only to see mundane updates. I wasn't active on social media for the longest time, but I am now, and I am feeling way more connected than ever before. Without social media, I would be completely out of touch with, for example, my cousin.
If it's a work group, and the rest have no problem with it, it is probably more seen as it's your job, learn to accomodate the rest of the group (since you seem to be the only one with an issue).
Which for me would suck cause I refuse to have FB apps on my phone (which is why I don't tend to get FB messages since they only work on the web.. well that is when I still was on FB even semi regularly). I'd honestly be trying to put my foot down (I don't trust FB and their apps). But, at the same time, I can see where OP would be in a bind there and it's not so simple as to say fuck the group when to do your job you have to work with that group whether you like each other or not.
It depends on the group. Very few companies want to rely on Meta for enterprise solutions, so I took it as some informal chat group, maybe even with former co-workers. I got a few of those setup. So it wouldn't be work obligations so much as casual chats with old aquantainces.
But sure, if these are day to day co-workers for some reason, that can put you in a bind. Hard to quit your job over a chat app.
I use an Android app called Friendly that reskins the desktop version of FB into something that's mobile friendly. It runs messenger just fine.
Friendly (ironically)isn't very user-friendly on my phone (OnePlus 6)
Sorry - I'm weeks late but it appears that Three Cheers for Tildes app finally added notifications.
Yes, friendly sucks on my phone too, but that's why I use it. It makes this social media addiction harder to fulfill.
Incidentally, I discovered this comment because of a notification in Three Cheers as well!
Lol, linked through software!
If only other people used Signal.
I'm a big fan of Signal, so are the vast majority of my colleagues, team and my mates.
Whatsapp is used as well, but for FAR bigger communities I belong to. But I avoid using it for anything beyond memes really.
I feel I'm in the minority when I say I really don't like signal. Sending pictures and video is a lot more work on it than with comparable apps, which is 90% of why I prefer using apps like these instead of a stock messenger app.
...work? What? Where? There's this camera icon you can tap, then either short tap the big circle to send a photo, or long tap to send a video. And if you mean already made ones, there's a big "+" button what shows you recent media, has a link to gallery, file browser, contacts, even instant location. And it all sends.
Meanwhile, for months Messenger couldn't send files saved from Messenger because it output webp which it still doesn't support sending. They "fixed" that by making it save to jpeg.
I just prefer the ui for WhatsApp! I find myself having to do more taps for signal. I only use it for my dad's side of the family, everyone else uses WhatsApp or sms messages.
I'm using Matrix myself, but if I were to convince a bunch of other people to move our group chat, I'd probably suggest Signal too. It's not as secure from what I've read but much easier for non-techies to set up.
Signal pushes the theoretical limits of how private and secure a centralized messaging platform can possibly be, and I'm not exaggerating. Their servers know almost nothing about you. The servers can't tell what groups you are actively chatting in. They can't even identify the sender of most messages.
Matrix's default settings are less secure, and its decentralized nature widens the possible attack surface. Of course, if you're careful, you can use Matrix as securely as you can use Signal. But you're right that it is a bit more daunting for the tech-illiterate to get started with. IMO Signal is the better recommendation for the general public if you don't need the more expansive IRC-like features of Matrix rooms.
Because trying to get all your friends and family to swap over is not worth the hassle. I use messenger because everyone in my family and my less technical friends use it.
It's like asking your 70 year old parents to swap to Linux because Windows is running slow on their machine
There is a huge difference between Signal and Linux. Signal is trivial to use, even for non techies. My dad and mum use it just fine, and they're not techie at all.
But I would never install Linux in their computer, even Ubuntu.
Or, when they ask you to fix their, pc, you "fix" it.
Nah but when their pc dies and they completely lose windows, I get them linux mint. I'm not paying for another windows license, they can do that themselves if they want it bad enough.
I'm with you there. I don't have many technical friends and I find only talking to tech-y people really boring. Most my friend groups use iMessage, since I'm on Android I don't participate, but I don't hold it against them and they don't hold it against me.
I think it's kinda weird that people seem to be willing to drop friendships because they don't use Signal. I just pick my battles and try to get them on, if not, then it's whatever, there's still Discord, Messenger, etc.
It seems much weirder that people aren't willing to load another messaging service to talk to people who care about their privacy.
It's just not my experience. I got most of my family and close friends to switch.
In terms of people dropping friendships, I see it the opposite way. If someone would rather not talk to you again instead of installing a free messaging app, how good of a friend are they?
I deleted my FB outright. Everyone I cared about is reachable in other ways. If there was someone who refused to explore any other alternative to keep in contact with me, I wouldn't consider letting that friendship fall a huge loss.
Isn't there a distro with a "Windows-Like" GUI? I'm not prepared to do this with my parents, but I could've sworn something like that exists in some form.
Technically I think you can send messages through mbasic.facebook.com but that’ll be a pain at best.
Whoa, I didn't even know that existed. Thank you!
One alternative I used quite a while back now is Beeper: https://www.beeper.com/
I stopped using it because, in the end, I managed to move 95% of my contacts to only Telegram, and I'm much happier with Telegram's UX than Beeper's.
I can't guarantee you will like Beeper more than Messenger Lite, but at least it's only one app for multiple chat apps, so you might replace something else along the way.
Edit: Oh yeah also, it's not free.
Messages send through Beeper will be decrypted and then encrypted using a different protocol and forwarded to the app of your choice. So the matrix server can technically read all of your messages. So I don't think its suitable for sharing sensitive info. I would recommend self hosting Beeper if possible
How much does Beeper cost?
Edit: according to a post on their blog from March this year, Beeper will be free going forward...
Huh I didn’t know. Stopped using it too long ago.
I love Beeper. I've been using it for a few months. They just added RCS through Google Messages. I've got iMessage, RCS, SMS, FB, and Signal working through it. Of course I would read through their FAQ and make sure you are satisfied with their security protocols.
How much does it cost and how long does it take to get accepted? I did the sign up thing and didn't know I had to go through a waitlist.
I can probably get you bumped up the list if you want to try it asap. DM me your username/email
I actually just got a referral! Thanks though, it works really well surprisingly. :)
I was in the cross-protocol messaging space for a long time. Beeper's founder and its primary dev take this stuff really seriously and I'm a pretty big supporter of what they do. They also release a lot of their work on Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/beeper
that's really good to know. I know that there's always gonna be a privacy question as well, do you know anything about it in that sense, as a third party person?
It says this on their FAQ:
So they are planning to embrace full end-to-end-encryption so they don't have to do the workaround they are doing right now, but they need to wait for cooperation or forced cooperation in order to do that.
I can tell you they take it seriously, but you're looking at a model which fundamentally cannot be E2EE so if you want technical guarantees, you're not going to get them.
that makes sense!! thanks for the info :)
Any chance of bestowing that bump up the list on someone else? Would love to try Beeper but just waiting around for my turn.
This looks awesome, I just got on the list. I used to try and move all my friends and family to a specific app but it would never stick so I just gave up and resigned myself to having 8+ different messaging apps for the rest of my life. This could be a game changer. Anyone have an estimate for how long the wait might be?
Are you able to use Messenger on the web on a mobile? https://www.messenger.com/
Yes, I just have to use the desktop version of the page to get a login prompt. Someone else also mentioned mbasic.facebook.com.
Yes, but you have to use the desktop version of the site, which is difficult but doable on a high-resolution phone. On an older phone I think it would be basically unusable.
On mobile, Messenger is deactivated through the browser. Using Firefox and Desktop version toggle I can get through but the design is not great at all. I don't think using the browser is the way to go here...
because websites are less profitable and in turn companies that previously had working mobile sites have either stopped maintaining it or just cut off all use and use it to direct to an app. As people are saying, FB messenger 's mobile site does not even work at all, so you're using an awkward desktop UI to navigate messages.
I do largely agree with this for many situations but in the case of Messenger Lite, I want notifications. Native ones which I can hit 'reply' on from the notification panel and so on, not browser notifications which are less flexible.
Although I'm not installing Messenger so it'll be no more notifications for me once they shut Lite down.
I believe the Instagram app can also send messages to messenger/fb in the DMs page. Not sure if that’s any better, though.
It can? Let me Google how to do that then...
Facebook Lite would be your best bet as they are incorporating that functionality as well if you don't want to go third party.
I wouldn't mind going for at third party app. I would prefer to use a dedicated app for chatting rather than Facebook Lite. It's not just about Facebook tracking me, I just don't want to actual Facebook installed on my phone ( I've had it installed before and found it quite stressful)
I'm in a similar boat myself, currently use Messenger Lite for two group chats that use facebook messenger.
From what I can see the only alternative I've found so far is using the facebook/messages desktop page in a web browser.
The "normal" Messenger app isn't terrible (I'm also in the same boat of everyone I know uses it for some reason, also Messenger payments is my favorite out of CashApp and such) but I do miss Messenger Lite. What you could do if you're worried about tracking is set up Island which uses Android's Work Profile to keep it separate from your "normal" Android profile.
Mbasic.facebook.com
You can use the old bare bones browser to send messages still.
Maybe it can be saved as PWA to your home screen? (I use Chrome to do this, you can try this right now)
Otherwise, I'd wait for the deadline and see how it breaks.
You might be able to install an old version of the app and get it working again? (disable auto-updates on it)
You might also be able to create or find a minimal app to contain the website if that's all Messenger Lite was doing? (I have a specific browser I use on iOS only for one web app and I start it with a shortcut that's the name of that web app)
Messenger is your only option unless you can get those groups moved.
Somebody suggested Beeper. It looks like it's free now, you just have to sign up and wait for an invite code, so I've signed up. Now I'll just have to wait and see... It looks promising, though, Kinda like Trillium from the olden days.
As someone else pointed out, just make sure encryption doesn't matter because they decrypt your messages.
Might be a dumb suggestion, but have you tried the regular messenger app lately? I was using the lite app for the same reason as you, but I switched to the regular messenger app about a year ago out of laziness. It hasn't been noticeable as far as idle battery drain. Maybe there's been enough changes in Android and the messenger app that it won't be a problem for you anymore.
I have just installed now, because someone in another comment also said it wasn't that bad these days. So far it's still loading my recent conversations... I am not impressed, but I'm about to go to sleep so I'll check back tomorrow.
Edit: okay, I've been using the regular Messenger app today. I like that it has dark mode, but on the other hand it also has fucking ads. I guess I should have expected as much from Meta, but coming from Messenger Lite, it's a real bummer to see ads pop up. I'm quite disappointed.
I used to use Disa in the past (while I was still using meta's products), but I haven't used it in at least 5 years, so take this suggestion with a grain of sodium chloride.
It looks like disa is defunkt, unfortunately
Telegram is the best communication app if encryption isn't in your top5 of features.
It's easy to use, native-ish clients for all relevant platforms, has a great set of features (first level bot support being the biggest for me) and it's easy enough to use for regular folk.
If you want secrecy, go with Signal, but the UX is shit compared to Telegram.
If you want community, Matrix or Discord is a good choice, neither really shine for 1-1 chats or small groups though.
I wouldn't say Signal UX is bad: it's OK, but Telegrams is really good.
Yeah, what are the gripes with Signal? I love it, maybe my favorite messaging app I've ever used.
I love it as well, but Telegram has way more features, especially with groups. I don't care about that though: I love the openness and privacy of Signal and would never give that up