Instagram has shut down its Lite app meant for smartphones with moderate memory and regions with low data connectivity speeds. As first reported by Android Police, Instagram lite users have been asked to move to the full app or use the mobile website.
Instagram Lite was first launched in 2018 in Mexico, and it weighed in at just 573KB — 1/55th of the full version at that time. Later, the company made it available in other markets such as Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines. Android Police’s report noted that it was unpublished from the Google Play Store on April 12.
[Read: How Facebook crammed all its major features into a 2MB Lite app]
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed the rollback of the app:
We are rolling back the test of the Instagram Lite app. You can start using the latest version of Instagram instead to connect with the people and things you love.
The company also said that it’ll take learnings from this Instagram Lite ‘test,’ to develop a new version of it. But it didn’t specify when it might launch this new app.
Hopefully, this time Instagram Lite can reach markets with massive userbases such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Facebook and other companies such as Uber, Tinder, and Spotify have developed lite versions of their apps for developing markets. Google publishes a range of lightweight apps for managing files, accessing Gmail, watching YouTube videos, and navigating with Maps, under the ‘Go’ moniker.
While we might not see the new version of Instagram Lite, anytime soon, you might want to use its web version to save on mobile data.
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