Facebook Lite launches in US and more developed countries

Facebook has made the decision to expand the reach of its data-friendly app, Facebook Lite, to territories that already have solid wireless networks, to more countries including developed ones, to attract users struggling with slower mobile data connections.

Today, the social network revealed that the Facebook Lite app is now available to download in the US, along with other developed markets.

Facebook Lite first launched in 2015, and was designed to be used in countries where wireless carriers didn’t have reliable or fast networking hardware. 

The app itself is less that 1 MB in file size, which makes it easy to download even on slow mobile networks. 

However, the app still has all of the main Facebook app’s core features, such as its News Feed, along with status updates, photos, notifications and other options.

The new rollout will now be available to users in more countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand.

"We've seen that even in some developed markets people can have lower connectivity, so we want to make sure everyone has the option to use this app if they want," the company said.

The app will be available for download from Thursday.

This is not the first time Facebook decided to expand the reach of one of its Lite apps.

Messenger Lite, which again was first made for developing territories, launched in the US and other markets in October 2017.