First came Facebook Lite, now the Lite comes to Instagram. Instagram is getting a new app targeted at emerging markets. Similar to its sister app, Facebook Lite, Instagram Lite brings the platform’s core features in a package that is less than 2MB in size; a far cry from the 30MB of the original Instagram app.
The new Lite version of Instagram was developed by Facebook’s development team based in Tel Aviv – the same team that worked on Facebook Lite. The team studied and honed into what users wanted as their core Instagram experience even with limited data. For Instagram users, these were mainly their messaging and video features.
Of course, this doesn’t steer away from the image-centric features of Instagram. The team built the app keeping in mind that the core experience on the platform still relies on images. Hence, when you go into the Lite application, you will notice that animation and data rich features such as filters may be missing. That said, features such as stickers and GIFs still make it into the new Lite App. The app also sees a simplification of icons like the trash icon being replaced by an “X”.
The new Instagram Lite app is available in 170 countries as of now. Most of the countries in the list are emerging markets where people have limited access to data.
Auto Captions Arrive While Reels Crosses Over to Facebook
In addition to the rollout of Instagram Lite, a select group of people have also gotten access to new features in the regular app. Notably, a new Auto Captions sticker called “CC Captions” has been appearing for a small number of users. The sticker transcribes spoken audio when added to an Instastory. The feature was first reported by Matt Navarra, a Social media consultant on Twitter. In a statement to Engadget, Instagram has clarified that the feature is not yet publicly available.
Facebook also seems to be testing the waters with Reels. The company has been experimenting with allowing select creators in India to share their Instagram Reels over to Facebook. Creators who opt-in to the feature are able to share Reels directly to Facebook. One caveat is that their content appears to be appearing with their Instagram handles. Reels itself seems to be making its way to Facebook as the is getting updated to allow users to create and post Reels from the app.