Facebook Launches ‘Lite’ App for Users in the Developing World

Facebook has launched an alternate, slimmed down version of its app called Facebook Lite, designed for low-end Android phones used primarily in the developing world.

According to a description in the Google Play store, the app uses less data than the main Facebook app does and works with 2G networks and in places with limited internet connectivity. Over the weekend, Techcrunch reports, Facebook launched the app in parts of Asia and Africa without its typical pomp and circumstance, in part because Facebook Lite is still in its testing phase. The company did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made no secret of his desire to expand access to the internet in the developing world. In addition to working on drone and satellite technology that will actually bring the internet to places in the world that don’t have it, Zuckerberg’s non-profit, Internet.org, is also working on ways to make the internet more accessible and affordable in places where limited connectivity already exists. Recently, for instance, his non-profit Internet.org launched an app that offers people access to basic services, like employment and healthcare information, free of any data services.

But providing free access to apps is just one part of solving the problem. The other part is ensuring that once those people have free access to apps, the apps will work in places where connectivity is suboptimal. That’s why Internet.org has created its own Innovation Lab in partnership with Ericsson, where it tests how apps perform in developing world environments and how that performance can be improved so developers will begin tweaking their technology accordingly.

Now, it seems, Facebook is testing its findings in the real world. More than just an altruistic endeavor, Facebook’s ability to expand internet access has a direct correlation with its ability to grow its business. Asia and Africa contain some of the fastest growing markets for mobile adoption in the world. If Facebook and Internet.org can become the most accessible apps in these countries, then Facebook will have a big head start over other Western tech companies.