Twitter expands Lite app in 21 countries

Twitter Lite is now available in 45 countries after the social media site expanded it to 21 new markets, including Argentina and India. The service minimises data usage, uses less space on devices and loads quicker on slower networks, making it more accessible. Lite features include letting users save tweets for later, when they have a stronger internet connection, and control which images and videos load by tapping "Load image" or "Load video". Other countries where the service has been rolled out include Romania, Jordan, Kenya and Guatemala.

Launched last year, Twitter Lite is designed to be accessible to more people by minimizing data usage, loading more quickly on slower networks and taking up less space on devices.

To overcome geographical and socioeconomic barriers to growth, Twitter is expanding its Lite app in 21 additional countries. Now available in more than 45 countries, new additions include India, Indonesia, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic

Along with people of lesser means, the expansion is designed for all users tweeting, regardless of the location.

“Wherever you are, we want to make Twitter your go-to place to find out what’s happening,” Jesar Shah, a product manager at Twitter, notes in a new blog post.

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Among other features, Lite users can control which images and videos load on their mobile phones simply by tapping the “Load image” or “Load video” tabs. Also, a Bookmarks feature lets users save Tweets for later -- for when they have more data or a better Web connection.

Additional countries being added to Lite’s list include Belarus, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Beating Twitter to the punch, Facebook launched a “Lite” version of its flagship app back in 2015.