Roadblocks like low broadband and 4G penetration aggravated by entry-level smartphones with limited storage keep many apps from expanding deeper into certain developing nations. A quick workaround to these hurdles is bringing ‘lite’ app versions to these markets, a solution popularized after Facebook Lite was introduced back in 2015. Pinterest soon followed with its own bite-sized app that didn’t survive for a long time. After rebuilding Pinterest Lite from the ground up, the company is now reintroducing it to five countries.

Pinterest Lite is essentially Pinterest’s progressive web application (PWA), which has been accessible via a mobile browser for a while. The app maker simply ported its PWA to a dedicated app — a fact that’s made clear with a dialogue box saying, “Running in Chrome” on the app’s first launch. There are no apparent differences between the two versions, although the Lite app serves the crucial purpose of making people aware of the practicalities and convenience of modern web apps.

This new lightweight app weighs a little over 1MB, which is remarkably lower than the 21MB download size of the main app. Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru are the only countries where it is currently being rolled out via the Google Play Store (linked below). Interested folks in other countries can get it from APK Mirror right away as its global availability details remain sketchy.

Via: TechCrunch