Facebook Lite, which was released mid 2015 for android users in markets identified as emerging, has now surpassed 100 million active users monthly. It is most popular in India, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Facebook has stated that this app, with the Android application package being under 1MB in size, is the fastest growing Facebook version to surpass this many users. It also is supported in over 56 different languages and that is a big part of its success.
The goal for Facebook is to offer an experience that is positive to all users, irrespective of the device they are using to access it says Facebook software engineer Gautam Roy. He further lamented on various details on how this app was designed with the hope that is will further encourage others to design applications to suit the future billion users expected to come online as new markets become available.
Roy added that the Android application package does not include usual resources used in android apps. It means that the Lite Architecture design see the server doing the majority of the work and that in itself permits the app to be well designed for less powerful devices such as the LG Optimus ME.
In addition, the design team behind FB Lite designed it to control image sizes and the volume of date it used. It is designed to work well with low powered mobile devices that often are common in developing markets, including that of the Samsung Galaxy Y which has specs that are restrictive but work well with Android Gingerbread and other smartphones that are older.
It is those choices in design features that has helped Facebook Lite to be one of the best in its class for performance metrics. This is especially true for image loading and start up on bandwidth restricted internet networks.