Facebook is used by more than many people all over the world. Since most of its users are accessing the service from mobile devices, more complaints are coming from low-end smartphone users that are mostly located in emerging countries.
From its over a billion users, not all of them can afford high-end smartphones, and located within high-speed connection area. Many of those people stays in emerging markets where they're happy with their ongoing devices which are relatively older and less powerful.
That's likely why Facebook quietly rolled out Facebook Lite, a lightweight version of the full original app.
Facebook's original app is one of the most resource-hungry app that most people may have installed. This is the main complaint about the app because particularly in older and low-end phones, it slows down the device to a margin. And in turn, it also drains battery more rapidly.
Facebook Lite is mainly directed to developing markets where older and low-end phones are still widely used. It isn't nearly as sleek and good looking, but it's not the purpose it is built for.
At the moment of its launch, the app is officially available for Android in a few countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Since there are ways to download the .apk installer file, the lightweight version is expected to expand more rapidly in more than just those countries.
The app that is based on Facebook's feature phone client called Snaptu, runs on Android 2.2 devices and up. With the app, users can post status updates, upload photos, comment on News Feed, send messages and set up group conversations. The app that comes with less than 1MB installer file, opposed to the over 20MB for its main app, makes it easier and faster to download for those using slower network connections.
Facebook highlights the app as being "efficient with data" and "designed for 3G networks and areas with limited network connectivity."
The company's move to release its own lightweight app is essentially crucial since its active monthly users that use the mobile app, improves 14 percent year-over-year. Such growth is far below Facebook's outstanding performance from 2004 to 2007 where the number of users doubled every few months.
The cause of this is comes from developing countries. Since the Facebook reached its "billion user milestone", the company realized that its growth is (was) faster than the world's internet availability growth. To make sure that the company's reach continues to expand, Facebook aims to widen its wings to more developing countries where people still have difficulties in connecting to the internet, mainly with the Internet.org initiative that first started in Zambia.
From Facebook's over a billion active users, about 900 million of them are mobile users. Of the total of mobile users, Facebook has over 100 million mobile users in India, 60 million mobile users in Indonesia and 57 million mobile users in Brazil.
Growth in emerging markets presents a tremendous opportunity and Facebook Lite could potentially help Facebook reach its next billion users. And furthermore, Facebook Lite can help the company to capitalize all those users to a greater extent.
Before, Facebook has introduced the "missed call" ads feature in India.
Facebook Lite app is an alternative to the original Facebook app. For those people that don't like how it is, can always use Facebook's mobile site.