What you need to know
- Instagram today launched a clutter-free version of its app for the Indian market.
- Dubbed Instagram Lite, the app is designed for developing markets and low-end smartphones.
- It removes Reels, Shopping, and IGTV from the app for a pure Instagram experience from yesteryear.
Having killed the Lite version of its app earlier this year, Instagram is reviving the barebones Instagram experience for developing markets, starting with India (via XDA Developers). Officially announced at a "Facebook Fuel For India" event this week, the app has actually been available on the Play Store since December 9 and has already garnered over 5 million downloads!
The app's description reads as follows:
The Instagram Lite app is small, fast and works on all networks. Enjoy the best features of INSTA like connecting with friends, sharing what you're up to, or seeing what's new from others all over the world. Explore our community where you can feel free to be yourself and share everything from your daily moments to life's highlights.
Source: Instagram
Most notably, the app removes many of the latest features added to the 'regular' Instagram app, such as Reels, IGTV, and Shopping. Depending on who you may ask, the removal of all that clutter may actually make the app the better of the two options — I, for one, certainly would prefer the Lite app.
The app is currently only available in India, though the company plan on bringing it to customers with limited internet connectivity and low-end devices in other parts of the world in the future.
Alongside English, the Indian variant of the app also supports Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.
