Emerging markets such as India have a massive population, which means that there are a ton of customers that companies have yet to reach, which is why we’re seeing more developers jump on board the “Lite” bandwagon. However it seems that these “Lite” apps are no longer exclusive to emerging markets.
In a report from Reuters, it appears that Facebook will be bringing its Facebook Lite app to markets such as the US. The app has largely been available in emerging markets but it seems that Facebook plans to bring it to more developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand.
According to a statement from Facebook, “We’ve seen that even in some developed markets people can have lower connectivity, so we want to make sure everyone has the option to use this app if they want.” For those unfamiliar, Facebook Lite is a more pared down version of the full Facebook app.
This is meant to benefit users who have older (and slower) phones and who might not have access to fast internet connections. This is similar to Facebook’s Messenger Lite app which was created for the same reason. Facebook Lite is expected to available today and can be found via the Google Play Store.