Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, used by billions of people around the world to connect with friends, family, and find interesting content. However, many users find the frequent ads and sponsored content distracting or irrelevant. If you want to use Facebook but don’t want to see ads, there are a few alternative apps you can use.
Facebook Lite
Facebook Lite is a trimmed-down version of the regular Facebook app, designed primarily for areas with limited internet connectivity. Since it’s a simplified version, Facebook Lite shows fewer ads than the main Facebook app. It provides the core Facebook experiences like News Feed, messaging, photos and more, without the bandwidth-heavy extras.
Facebook Lite is available for both Android and iOS. The app is only 10MB, so it takes up very little space on your phone. This also allows it to run faster than the main Facebook app on some older or low-end smartphones. If you want the basic Facebook functionality without the clutter of ads, installing Facebook Lite is a good option.
Messenger
Messenger is Facebook’s app focused solely on messaging. It allows you to text chat with friends and groups, make voice and video calls, and more. Messenger has very limited ads compared to the main Facebook app. You might see an occasional sponsored message, but overall ads are rare.
Messenger is available as a standalone app for iOS and Android. You can sign in with your existing Facebook account. Or, you can create an account just for Messenger if you don’t want a full Facebook profile. With Messenger, you can enjoy connecting with friends and family through messaging without the distraction of a busy news feed and ads.
Facebook Mobile Website
You can access a lightweight mobile version of Facebook by going to www.facebook.com in your mobile browser (like Chrome or Safari). This loads a simplified version of Facebook designed for mobile screens and slower connections. Just like Facebook Lite, the mobile site shows minimal ads compared to the main app.
The Facebook mobile website has the same core functions like posting statuses, commenting, messaging, and viewing your news feed and notifications. But you’ll see far fewer sponsored posts and ads. You can bookmark www.facebook.com on your home screen to easily access the mobile site like an app.
Friendly for Facebook
Friendly for Facebook is a third-party app that provides access to Facebook. It focuses on speed and privacy protection. Friendly has built-in ad blocking that removes most ads from your News Feed and pages you visit. The app is also very customizable – you can pick and choose exactly which Facebook features you want to use.
Friendly is available for iOS and Android. It’s not an official Facebook product, but it does connect safely and securely to your Facebook account. The app creator monetizes through optional subscriptions rather than ads. If you’re looking for a smoother and less cluttered Facebook experience, Friendly is a good option.
Swipe for Facebook
Swipe for Facebook is another third-party Android app that provides a distraction-free Facebook experience. Like Friendly, Swipe focuses on speed, minimal design, and removing ads. The app blocks nearly all ads on Facebook. And it has options to customize the user interface and News Feed to your preferences.
Swipe is free to use with some premium options available as in-app purchases. Even without paying, the free version blocks the majority of Facebook ads. Swipe also features enhanced privacy settings and the ability to prevent read receipts when messaging. If you use an Android phone, Swipe is one of the top-rated apps for using Facebook ad-free.
Frost for Facebook
Frost is an open source alternative Facebook app for Android. It has a focus on user privacy and customization options. Frost does not show any ads at all in the app or browser. It also blocks tracking pixels and hides “seen” statuses from others. In settings, you can customize different options like feed layout, themes, notification settings and more.
Since Frost is open source, the code is transparent and people can contribute features or fixes. While it may lack some bells and whistles of the official app, Frost provides a solid experience for connecting with friends and family on Facebook without ads.
Unfriend Facebook
If you want to reduce distractions and your time on Facebook, you can also use an app like Unfriend Facebook. This app lets you “unfollow” people temporarily or permanently without unfriending them. You can selectively hide posts from certain people or pages. It also lets you schedule time limits for using Facebook each day.
Unfriend Facebook essentially gives you more control over your feed. It removes some triggers that lead to aimlessly scrolling through irrelevant posts and ads. Though not a full Facebook alternative, Unfriend alongside one of the other options above can help minimize ads.
Conclusion
Facebook’s massive user base makes it difficult to completely avoid ads if you want to use the platform. But the apps discussed above provide alternative ways to access Facebook that are much lighter on advertising.
Facebook Lite, Messenger, the mobile site, and third-party options like Friendly and Frost allow core Facebook functions without the ad overload. You can also use Unfriend Facebook to take more control over your feed and who you interact with.
The specific app that will work best depends on your priorities, mobile platform, and desired features. But using one of these options will likely provide a better overall Facebook experience without constant sponsored distractions.