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05th Jun 2015

Good news mobile users, Facebook Lite is here

Great news for anyone on Android

Oisin Collins

The faster, slimmed down version of Facebook is finally available in an app.

Are you a social media fanatic who happens to live in an area of poor mobile coverage? Well there’s some good news coming your way, as Facebook recently launched a new pared back version of their social media app called Facebook Lite.

The new Android app (no sign of an iPhone app just yet) has been in the testing stages for the past six months and it uses less data than the full app and works well in areas of poor coverage.

The full official Facebook app uses roughly 30MB of storage, while the new Facebook Lite app uses less than one megabyte, according to Wired.com.

READ MORE – If you have an annoying, show-off friend on Facebook then you’ll want to show them this

Facebook Lite’s project manager, Vijay Shankar, said the changes have been made “mostly under the hood” and “all the core experiences and how you come to use them in your main app will work and look and feel the same.”

The app was designed to bring Facebook to users in developing countries with poor internet access, as both Facebook and Google look to tap into the billions (yes, BILLIONS) of people coming online for the first time in places that rely on 2G coverage.

Still, there are plenty of areas around Ireland that suffer from dodgy coverage for one reason or another, so the new Facebook Lite app is sure to come in handy for some users. The app has been rolled out in several countries already and it’s expected to be rolled out in Europe in the coming weeks.

Hat tip Wired.com

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