What Does “Lite” Stand For In Mobile Phones And Why Are Mobile Companies Launching Lite Versions? (Full Explanation!)

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Lite is the smaller version of a high-profile app so phones with smaller processing units and slower network servers can make use of this version. The lite version of the app would give space to small device users to enjoy the benefits of this app.

Some Of The Reasons Why These Lite Apps Are Launched Now By Companies

Less Is More

Just to manage the issues of a slow network, bad phone operating systems, and other things, these companies have made up their minds and decided to create good market systems for themselves by creating this new smaller software that would only need little space, unlike the main software. Although it has fewer features, it still needs smaller network systems to work, which means that everyone in these countries gets to enjoy the benefits that follow. To make sure everyone uses this app, some features must be sacrificed to create these lite apps with smaller software. 

What they do is that they make use of the important features of this app and then apply them on the lite apps and then leave out the extra features that are hardly needed. In most countries, these lite apps are preferred and so that is what most of them use. This software is created by them so all they need to do is cut out some features and then the smaller version has been created. 

For instance, using Facebook Lite would take up to 10 times less space than the Facebook app would use. The app would also make use of smaller data. Even though the Facebook lite app has every necessary functionality as the normal Facebook app, it will have to be smaller than the normal app so it is useful in different places. What we are saying is that the Facebook Lite app would give you the chance to post, like, and comment on posts just like the normal Facebook app would do. This concept of little apps on mobile phones has a way of describing the phrase less is more. 

What this means is that an app doesn’t go far because of the complexities it has. Many people prefer straightforward apps to work with. Most times, lighter apps are used the most around the world than the bigger apps that take up more space. 

Increasing Traction 

The number of people downloading these lite apps is growing every day, the downloads are extremely high especially when it is launched for the first time for people to use. Most developing areas in the world now enjoy downloading these lite apps because they take up less than what the normal apps do. 

A live example would be Mack Zuckerberg confirming that Facebook lite has been downloaded more than half a billion times in places like Asia, South America, and India. In all of these regions, Facebook Lite is the most downloaded Lite app. In Southwest Asia and India, TikTok Lite has been downloaded millions of times. The lite app is ranked as one of the most downloaded in all of these regions. In these regions, they say that most of the downloaders are new phone users and those people who do not have good internet access. Since 2021, it has been downloaded nearly 50 million times. 

Some other popular lite apps like YouTube Go and Opera Mini all fall under the lesser app category bused in some of these regions. Although it is only logical that the normal apps would have more downloads than the lite version, we can say that the lite version of these apps is serving their purposes in the world. 

The companies that have these lite version apps should try and put them into the market more than they already do so that they can get to a lot of people in a lot of regions where they are useful. Any popular app with a reasonable amount of downloads can decide to launch a lite version and make a lot of money from this concept. 

A Table Showing The Difference Between The Lite Apps And The Normal Version

FeatureLite VersionNormal Version
App SizeSmaller, optimized for storageLarger, may consume more space
PerformanceLightweight, optimizedFull-featured, potentially faster
FeaturesBasic functionalitiesComprehensive feature set
Data UsageReduced data consumptionHigher data usage is possible
System RequirementsLower hardware specificationsHigher hardware requirements
GraphicsSimplified graphicsRicher graphics and animations
UpdatesLimited updates, focused on essentialsRegular updates with new features
PriceOften free or lower costTypically higher-priced or with in-app purchases

Wrapping Up

We have seen clearly that Lite apps are much smaller than full versions, companies keep launching them because they work well with a particular set of people in a particular region.

References:

 https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/lite-version

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