Instagram Lite reaches 170 countries with support for Reels
Facebook said on Wednesday that it is launching Instagram Lite - the lite-sized version of the Instagram platform app - in 170 countries, allowing people with poor internet access to its social media service to share photos and videos.
Instagram Lite is supposed to be available for Android phones, and it requires lower internet speeds than the traditional version.
The app comes in at only 2MB in size, compared to 30MB for the traditional version, and the app works even over slower 2G networks, allowing customers in parts of India, Africa, Asia and Latin America with legacy internet infrastructure to access the service.
Facebook said: These are the markets where there is an urgent need, and the application uses much less data, so if you have a small data package, you will not run out of use of the service, and the goal is to provide the breadth of the same experience that you get through Instagram.
The 170 countries do not represent a complete global launch, but it is a step on the road, and unlike IGTV, Instagram Lite has retained most of the main features of Instagram.
The launch is focused on users whose smartphones lack reliable storage, processing power and data.
In order to reach this volume, the app focuses on photos, videos and messages, abandoning the other features of the original version of the Instagram app.
Instagram Lite still has the main feed, as well as stories, and it prominently features the Reels tab across the homepage, but not IG Live or Shopping.
Facebook has no plans to bring shopping to Instagram Lite, but Reels had a lot of engagement in India, which is why she decided to keep this tab, however, users would not be able to create Reels videos from the app.
In addition to live filters and other augmented reality effects that don't work across low-power devices, the animation has been tweaked.
Lots of extra stress is handled by the server to take the burden off the machine itself.
There are a number of additional UI tweaks to better suit new digital users, including eliminating the Trash Can in favor of the X, which the testers found makes more sense.
In addition, GIFs and stickers remain a part of the app because, unlike AR filters, they were space-saving.