Facebook Kills Off Slimmed Down 'Facebook Lite' App Due to Low Adoption

Facebook Lite, the social network's slimmed down app for low speed connections and low-spec phones, is being deactivated, reports MacMagazine.

Facebook Lite was designed to work on poor internet connections like 2G networks or in rural areas with a bad signal, mainly by not downloading high resolution images or autoplaying videos, and the app could be used on older phones at the expense of excluding some features.

The streamlined app appeared alongside a Lite version of Messenger in 2018, first launching in Turkey, before rolling out to more regions and territories.

However, users in Brazil who opened the Lite variant of the app on Tuesday were met with the following message (translation).

Facebook Lite for iOS will be disabled.

You can use the original Facebook app to keep in touch with friends and family.

"Due to the limited adoption and improvements we are making to improve the experience for people in our apps, we will no longer support Facebook Lite for iOS," said a Facebook spokesperson.

Facebook has long been regarded by some users as a unnecessarily bloated app. The full-fat Facebook app for iPhone 11 is a not-insubstantial 244.7MB, whereas Facebook Lite was a relatively paltry 8.7MB in comparison.