Facebook Lite

Facebook Lite is the application with which you can connect to the social network even if your smartphone isn't too powerful or your connection is rubbish.

The lightweight app from Facebook

The success of Mark Zuckerberg's social network is undeniable and due to its massive use by millions of people from all over the world, it has gradually added dozens of features that have made its smartphone application slower day by day. This leads to an increase in battery and memory consumption, so it is only possible to download and run on powerful smartphones and tablets.

Therefore, if we have a low-end phone, we only have two choices: the web version that is not optimized for these devices, or an application that is only equipped with the most basic functions of this social network. It's obviously Facebook Lite, with which the company wants to guarantee its expansion in those places where it's difficult to have a high-end phone or where it's almost impossible to access a 4G data network.

But can it only be used on humble phones? No, if you have the latest model of the Samsung Galaxy range or even a Nexus, you can also install its APK, maybe because you want to save on your mobile data consumption or because you don't need all the features offered in the full version.

What are the main differences?

You will only be able to perform the actions originally designed for this social network, in other words:

• Update your status and comment on your friends' posts.
• Receive notifications of likes or comments.
• See what your friends are doing.
• Share different content like photos or links.

As you can see, rather basic functions, so you have to forget about broadcasting live video with Facebook Lite or other functions that require large bandwidth or powerful hardware. Among the main characteristics we can highlight:

• Weighs less than 1MB. Compatible with all Android phones.
• Lower data consumption.
• Compatible with 2G networks.
• Send messages without downloading Facebook Messenger.
• Loads the content at a higher speed.

A functional and simple design

Once you open the app, you'll soon realize that its interface is much simpler, simply sticking to the basic features of this social network. In the top bar, it offers us access to the activities of the users and pages you follow, your friend requests, messages, notifications, searches and the user menu.

Its most notable feature is that if we use the full version of the social network on our phone, we won't be able to send messages, since we'll be forced to download the chatting and instant messaging app Messenger. However, here we can send messages, although we must forget about video calls.

And no, there is no lite version for iPhone... we will only be able to download its APK for Android smartphones and tablets.

What's new in the latest version?

• Speed ​​and reliability improvements.

Requirements and further information:

• Minimum operating system requirements: Android 4.0.3.