Twitter Lite is a web app for those living the data struggle

Twitter has announced that its mobile site is now more convenient for the 45% of global mobile users working on 2G or slower networks. Dubbed Twitter Lite, the mobile app is said to reduce data costs, load quickly on slower networks, as well as take up less space on smartphones.

Twitter Lite is a faster, data friendly way for people to use Twitter to see what’s happening in the world.

👉https://t.co/AIUgyCAFj0pic.twitter.com/9EIG7pgK6O

— Twitter (@Twitter) April 6, 2017

The web app offers the main features of the main app — namely the timeline, sending tweets, direct messaging, trends, profiles and notifications. But it also offers a “data saver” option that allows users to choose which images and videos it wants to load after seeing blurred previews.

“This can reduce your data usage by up to 70%, making it more affordable for you to use Twitter in areas where mobile data is expensive,” Twitter’s product manager Patrick Traughber writes.

Twitter Lite is not an actual app, but will allow users with slow internet speeds to access the social network more easily

And if the user is visiting the site on Chrome for Android, they can receive push notifications, as well as add it to the home screen for ease of access — all for less than 1MB of storage space on any phone.

Twitter Lite is specifically aimed at users in “emerging markets across Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa.” The company has even been working on promoting Twitter Lite in India by partnering with Vodafone to give users “live sports updates on Indian Premier League matches, teams, and players as the cricket season kicks off.”

The web app should be particularly useful in South Africa, where data prices are notoriously high, but smart phone usage is on the rise.

The site is available globally as of today.

The web keeps winning! Twitter Lite👍

— Miracle Anyanwu (@PolymathWhiz) April 6, 2017