Instagram Lite app for Android is less than 1MB

In a bid to add another billion users from emerging markets including India, Facebook-owned Instagram has quietly released a lighter version of its app called "Instagram Lite" for Android on Google Play Store.

Although there is no official statement yet from Facebook, the launch of 'Instagram Lite' app appears to a pilot run among a select countries to begin with.

There are millions of smartphone users in India who still have old variants with slow 2G Internet connectivity and Instagram Lite can help them get in touch with friends and family.

"The 'Instagram Lite' app is small, allowing you to save space on your phone and download it quickly," read the app's description on Play Store.

Instagram Lite lets users post photos to their feed or Stories using the available filters, TechCrunch reports. The app also lets users watch Stories and posts from the Explore page.

With this new version of the photo messaging app, users using older phones with less storage space or slower internet connections, would have access to Instagram without having to delete photos, apps or wait longer and pay more to download it.

The app will run on devices running Android versions 5.0 and up. With over a billion users, Instagram is a very popular app from the Facebook family.

Facebook launched "Facebook Lite" in 2015 which had 200 million users by the end of last year. Facebook "Messenger Lite" came in April this year.

Aiming to take on Google-owned YouTube, Instagram this month announced it would allow users to upload videos up to one hour in length, up from the previous one-minute limit.

"We launched IGTV (a button inside the Instagram home screen, as well as a standalone app) at an event featuring many of the Instagram creators who'll make it great," the company wrote in a blog post.

Not just celebrities, IGTV will let all users be a creator and let them upload vertical videos through Instagram's app or the web.