Facebook Lite: A toned-down Facebook app, built to run smoothly even on entry-level Android phones

Facebook is easily one of those must-install apps that every phone user has on their home screen. And while this app gives you the full-service Facebook experience of accessing posts, commenting, uploading photos and the like--all in a rich user interface--it does come at the cost of a heavy install (about 35MB on Android and 70.1MB on iOS), and continually high memory and data utilization. In the long run, this can take its toll on both your battery life and your cellular data usage. We’ve all experienced this at some time or another.

Many of us have even gone so far as to uninstall the FB app and default to accessing the web version over the mobile browser. Sure, this isn’t as visually rich an experience, but it certainly gets the job done.

Now, in a bid to reach out to users of entry-level android phones, Facebook has released a ‘lite’ version of their app that consumes significantly lower system resources compared to the full-blown version: its install size is 252KB and both its memory and cellular data usage are a fraction of the primary app.

According to Facebook, this featherweight app is:

• Fast to install
• Quick to load
• Efficient with data
• Designed for 2G networks and areas with limited network connectivity

Its key features include:

• Messaging friends and having group conversations
• Receiving notifications on likes and comments to posts
• Accessing friends’ posts
• Sharing status updates and photos

As of writing this, Facebook Lite is available in the Play Store, but only for users in a select few countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe).

Even so, you can sideload the app to your phone here in India. Here’s how:

1. Download the Facebook Lite APK file from here.
2. Transfer this APK file to your phone (the quickest way is to send it to Google Drive then access it from your phone, but you can also do this via Bluetooth or memory card)
3. You will need to enable installing files from unknown sources on your phone. This is done from Settings | Security, then tapping the relevant toggle switch
4. Finally locate the APK file you transferred to your phone, tap the file and go through with the installation (accepting the on-screen notifications).