Although the world as we know it is highly digitalized nowadays, developing countries still use outdated technologies when accessing the internet. It seems that Facebook is concerned with this and intends to make their social media service easy to be used in such emerging countries.
In order to solve this problem Facebook has come up with a new optimized version of their app, known as Facebook Lite. The low-bandwidth app enables people who use 2G devices to have a faster experience of Facebook. Facebook Lite has less than 1MB and is provided with features which ensure that the app works as fast as possible such as the possibility to download photos in a lower quality.
This is part of the social media giant’s attempt to become more popular in the developing world. The company has been coming forward with its tools in places such as South America, Africa and Asia. An example of such efforts is Facebook’s initiative to fly drones which beam internet access to isolated regions of the world. The app works well on outdated phones and slow networks.
Facebook Lite will roll out in Asia today and in the following weeks it will be available in parts of Africa, Latin America and Europe. The app had already arrived in areas like Nepal, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Vietnam since January. Currently the app is not available in the US Google Play store and it is not yet known if Facebook intend to release it in the future.
Although data intensive features such as Nearby Friends or videos are not available, remote areas of the world can enjoy a smooth, fast and cheap Facebook experience. According to the company Facebook Lite will work efficiently in any network conditions.
Since Android is most popular in those areas of the world the tool is for now only available on Android devices. Just like Facebook’s main app, Facebook Lite is also free. A spokeswoman for Facebook said that for now the company won’t give any information about whether the app will also be available for other devices such as iPhone.
Vijay Shankar, the product manager of Facebook Lite, said that the company took its time considering whether to make this move or not, but they finally decided that the possible outcome of billions of users is worth the effort. He remarked:
“Adding multiple interfaces to the main Facebook experience is something we’ll have to maintain for years to come.”
Image Source: ghacks
