New Twitter Lite is light on data

TWITTER has launched a faster version of its mobile service aimed at people with sporadic connections or little data on their smartphone plans, hoping to attract users in harder-to-reach emerging markets.

The company calls the version Twitter Lite, and it is aimed largely at users outside the US.

Twitter Lite works through a web browser, not a stand-alone phone application, but its appearance and functionality are nearly identical to what app users experience.

The launch comes on the heels of similar products from other US tech companies. Facebook released Facebook Lite in 2015, and, earlier this week, Alphabet’s YouTube unveiled a low-data mobile app designed for India.

Twitter lags those companies in building a user base. It had 319 million average monthly active users at the end of last year, up 4% year on year but still a fraction of Facebook’s 1.9 billion users. A primary reason in some parts of the world was how much data its app and earlier website consumed, said Keith Coleman, Twitter’s vice-president of product.

“We didn’t feel like we were reaching these other countries well enough, and this will allow us to do it faster, cheaper and with a better experience than we’ve had before.”

Like YouTube, Twitter is eyeing India’s 1.3 billion people, and it timed the release of Twitter Lite in part to coincide with the start this week of the Indian Premier League’s Twenty20 tournament. —