Facebook recently launched a small and ultra light version of its mobile app, Facebook Lite, for Android users. Targeting users with low end smartphones and those who reside or travel in areas with low network coverage, this new app promises smooth performance even with 2G networks.

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True to its name, the app is really lightweight with the download package just 252 kB in size, which is less than one hundredth the size of the full version app (27 MB). Currently, Lite is available only in a few select countries where network issues still persist. There are eight countries in all, four African and four Asian. The African countries are:  Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe and the Asian are: Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. If you are from one of these countries you can download it from Play Store. Notably, India is missing from the list, but interested users can sideload the app from other sources.

The UI of Lite is pretty minimalist, and it looks like the old interface of Facebook’s mobile site. Notable differences are – lack of animations (obvious!), options to copy text and select between top news and recent news. A major advantage is that you don’t need to download Messenger for accessing your conversations, which is again quite obvious since the app itself is focused on reducing data usage by all means.

This new app from the top social networking site, and the countries they have selected to try it, seems like an effort from Facebook to expand its user base. It’s good to see that a major company is paying attention to the problems faced by users from countries where having a high end phone is still considered a dream and network issues are a daily routine. However, on what basis they have selected these particular countries is still unclear, and a launch in other emerging markets is expected soon.

Also Read: How to Stop Game and App Requests on Facebook

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By Ashish Mukundan

Ashish Mukundan is a tech enthusiast and sports lover. Currently an Engineering student in Mumbai, he wishes to share his knowledge through brief articles and reviews relating to tech.

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