Facebook Lite App Launches in Eight Countries

A new stand-alone app from Facebook emerged in the Google Play store, Facebook Lite, aimed at bringing the Facebook experience to lower-end Android devices in several emerging markets

FacebookLite650A new stand-alone application from Facebook emerged in the Google Play store — Facebook Lite — aimed at bringing the Facebook experience to lower-end Android devices in several emerging markets.

If the name sounds familiar, Facebook launched a simplified version of its website in 2009 under the same name, but it shut down that version of Facebook Lite in April 2010.

The social network confirmed to CNBC that Facebook Lite is available in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nigeria, Nepal, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and TechCrunch reported that the app requires just 252 kilobytes of storage, compared with 25 megabytes for the Facebook flagship app, and it is designed to work on 2G and other poor-quality connections.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook Lite was based on Snaptu, the social network’s client for feature phones, but it also includes native Android features such as push notifications and integration with the cameras on devices.

IHS senior mobile analyst Jack Kent told CNBC:

Facebook is well-penetrated in Western markets,...

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