Facebook rolls out Instagram Lite to Sub-Saharan Africa and other emerging markets

APO Importer 11:08 - 19 March 2021

The logo of the Instagram app on a smartphone.

Today, Facebook has announced the launch of Instagram Lite to Sub-Saharan Africa, a new, lightweight version of the Instagram app for Android that uses less data and works well across all network conditions.

The new version of Instagram Lite for Android is less than 2MB in size, making it fast to install and quick to load. It also has improved speed, performance, and responsiveness.

Instagram Lite not only works similarly to the Instagram app for Android, but it allows the Instagram experience to remain fast and reliable for more people, no matter what device, platform and network they use.

Features of Instagram and Instagram Lite app compared

Instagram	Instagram Lite
The full version of the Instagram app takes up to just 30 MB to 80 MB of space, excluding app data and cacheREAD \| Accept WhatsApp Privacy Policy before May 15, says new notification \| Know details	The Instagram Lite app only takes up just 2 MB of space, excluding app data and cacheREAD \| Is Instagram working on a Clubhouse clone? Screenshots of "Audio Rooms" leaked
Works better in smartphones with good RAM and other features	Entry-level or smartphones with minimal specs and features will be easily able to run the applicationREAD \| Instagram tests new sticker feature in effort to generate auto-captions for IG Stories
Needs a good internet ( 4G )	Can work in a slow internet service environment (Works on 2G)
Saves data in Phone Storage	Inspire by Facebook Lite, the app will offload most of the code that’s running the app to the cloud
Supports all the key features such as Stories, feed, DMs, and more	The Lite app also has Stories, feed, DMs and some key features
Offers Instagram Reels with a dedicated tab	Offers Instagram Reels with limited viewing support and no dedicated tab
Offers IGTV with a dedicated tab	Offers IGTV with limited viewing support and no dedicated tab
Offers GIFs and stickers	Users will be able to use GIFs and stickers
Consists of an abundance of AR filters and cube transitions	Advanced tools like Cube transitions and AR filters removed from the application
Offers Instagram Live feature	Does not offer Instagram Live feature
Consist of all the interfaces and icons	Many icons removed from the app such as the Trash icon, however, it is replaced with an ‘X’ character to imply the same
Offers only Hindi	Offers 9 Indian languagesBengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, and Telugu.
Dark Mode, Yes	Dark Mode, No
Yes to Sharing Songs/TV shows to Instagram Stories	No sharing Songs/TV shows to Instagram Stories
Available on both iOS and Android devices	Instagram Lite is available only for Android users
iOS version of the app is fully functional	The iOS version of the app is still not announced

Commenting on the rationale for introducing the app to Sub-Saharan Africa, Engineering Manager for Instagram Lite, Peter Shin said, “Connectivity in the region can be unstable, slow and expensive, making it challenging for people to have a high-quality Instagram experience. Many people were already familiar with the concept of a Lite app after the successful roll-out of Facebook Lite some years ago. We started testing the new version of Instagram Lite when people across the continent started asking for a Lite app for Android. The feedback was very positive and we are excited to launch it across the continent today".

"Our team aims to leave no one behind, so today we are very excited to bring Instagram Lite to people in over 170 countries, including the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region,” he added.

Instagram Lite is similar to the core Instagram app experience, though some features are not currently supported, such as Reels creation, Shopping, and IGTV.Instagram Lite is likely to gain appeal to users in locations with limited bandwidth or high data costs, especially in the developing world.

Instagram Lite is currently rolling out in over 170 countries, and Facebook remains committed to building and improving the app to help everyone in the world connect to the people and things they love.