Microblogging site Twitter has more users outside of the United States compared to its home market. This week, the social media giant discreetly unveiled a new version of its app in an attempt to reach and attract more users, specifically an Android app called Twitter Lite.
Twitter's native app for their microblogging site was launched earlier this year and uses less mobile data. The lighter load of data means that the Twitter Lite app is beneficial for up-and-coming markets and start-up companies where data networks are often slow and costly for consumers.
Twitter is testing Twitter Lite's usability in the Philippines. In the Google Play Store, the app appears separately from its native client and is available for Android units running on Android 5.0 and up. It also supports both the English and Filipino language and can connect to 2G and 3G networks
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Twitter spokesperson said, "The test of the Twitter Lite app in the Google Play Store in the Philippines is another opportunity to increase the availability of Twitter in this market. The Philippines market has slow mobile networks and expensive data plans, while mobile devices with limited storage are still very popular there. Twitter Lite helps to overcome these barriers of usage for Twitter in the Philippines."
The social media giant further explained that the app is at an experimental stage and that Twitter is still gauging whether to launch it in other markets.
Twitter Lite sports a lot of the same basic functions of the main Twitter app. Users can still get breaking news, sports scores and celebrity updates. There are also able to get in touch with different brands as well as local and national governments.
With Twitter's user growth problems plaguing them for a couple of years now, the Twitter Lite app might just sway more users onto their platforms.
