Uber Lite is now a thing, but it’s not a new offering from the ride-hailing service. Instead, it’s a new app, keeping up with tech companies’ recent trend of developing low bandwidth, low footprint apps for emerging markets.
“Uber Lite is a simple version of the rider app that saves space, works on any network, and on any Android phone,” said Shirish Andhare, the company’s head of product for emerging markets, in an announcement.
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Uber Lite weighs in at around 5MB, notably slimmer than the 40.4MB required to install the traditional Android app.
Visually, it sheds the default initial map overlay on the home screen, opting for a material design card system with a progress bar instead.
The app will also improve offline experience or load times on slower networks by caching the the “city’s top places”.
“And the more you use Uber Lite, the smarter the app gets, learning where you go most often and surfacing those options for you to tap first, so you don’t have to type your destination every time,” Andhare continues.
Some features are shared with the main app, namely in-app support functionality and the ability to share trip details with friends and family.
For now, Uber Lite is only available in India, but the company promises the app will be available in more countries “later this year”.
Feature image: Uber
