Malaysian Android users can now download Instagram Lite, a new, lightweight version of the photo sharing application. According to Instagram, the Lite version retains the core features of the Instagram experience, while keeping the app fast and reliable for more people – regardless of the device, platform, and network they’re using.
Instagram Lite is just less than 2MB in size, making it fast to install and quick to load. For comparison’s sake, the full-sized version needs 30MB of space. App developers apparently took a page out of Facebook Lite and offloaded much of the code for phone app into the cloud.
To maintain a reliable performance, developers cut much of the elaborate, data-rich animation, such as cube transitions and the AR filters people can apply to faces. But they kept the less data-demanding stuff like GIFs and stickers.
Additionally, they put an emphasis on video and messaging, which remote residents use more frequently than their urban counterparts.
So Lite seems to be a deliberate outreach to people with entry-level devices and/or live in areas where connectivity is often unstable and network speeds are slower. Instagram and its parent Facebook are eyeing the fact that emerging markets will account for over 90% of new mobile subscribers globally.
Instagram Lite is now rolling out in 170 countries on Android. There seems to be no mention of when (or whether) it will arrive on iOS.
(Source: Facebook / Instagram. Images: Facebook / Instagram.)
