With more people in developing countries buying smartphones, tech companies need to cater to this influx of potential new users. The answer is lightweight apps which offer much the same functionality as the full-featured versions, just with less clutter.

In April 2017, Twitter launched Twitter Lite, which, as its name suggests, is a lightweight version of its mobile app. Exclusively available on Android, Twitter Lite is designed to help people with older phones, limited storage, and/or spotty connections get on Twitter.

Twitter Lite Goes Global

Twitter Lite was tested in the Philippines before being made available elsewhere. And now, Twitter has made Twitter Lite available in 21 additional countries, including Argentina, India, and Turkey. This brings the total up to 46, with more to be added in the future.

Twitter Lite offers various advantages over its bigger brother. It's only a 3MB install, and is designed to work on 2G and 3G networks, even if your connection is spotty. What's more, the Data Saver lets you "control which images and videos load on your phone".

Beyond that it's pretty much business as usual, with Twitter Lite offering push notifications, Bookmarks for saving important tweets for later, threaded tweets making tweetstorms easier to read, and a Night Mode which is easier on the eyes.

Twitter Lite is now available to download from Google Play in Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

The Best Lightweight Apps

Twitter Lite is just one of a number of lightweight apps we recommend. Especially if you have an older smartphone or a restrictive data plan. The best Android apps for those with slow internet speeds include Facebook Lite, YouTube Go, and Datally from Google.

Image Credit: Thethreesisters/Flickr