In a bid to tap into emerging markets, Facebook announced the ‘Lite’ version of its Android Messenger app. The version is designed to work with slower internet speeds and basic Android smartphones in emerging markets, the social networking giant announced on Monday.
Facebook Messenger Lite will initially launch in Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Venezuela, but will hit other regions at a later, unspecified date. It uses less than 10 megabytes compared to around 156 megabytes for the full version of the app. Last year, the company released Facebook Lite for Android users in emerging markets.
Facebook Messenger Lite is a different approach to developing markets and the platform, which now has one billion users globally, has become key to Facebook’s growth efforts. Earlier this year, the company introduced chatbots on the platform – apps or pieces of software that users can interact with via speech or text. They are then able to respond providing information or even carrying out a task.
“Messenger Lite was built to give people a great Messenger experience, no matter what technology they use or have access to,” Tom Mulcahy, engineering manager for Messenger Lite, wrote in a blog post on Monday.
