Uber Brings Lite App for Riders in Low-Network Regions in India

Uber has launched Lite version of its app which will run on 99 percent Android devices selling in India.

Uber wants more Indians to join its base and to that end, they have introduced a Lite version of the app. The cab-hailing global giant has been looking at ways to compete with Ola in the market and adding more users to its network is a pretty smart move.

Uber Lite will pilot first for Android users in Jaipur, Hyderabad and Delhi and roll out across the country this summer before its launch in other countries. For the time being, Uber is letting users show their interest in the Lite app, which will be made available via Play Store in the coming weeks.

The Uber Lite is sized at less than 5MB according to the company and claims to have a 300-millisecond response time even in low-connectivity areas and works on 99 percent of Android devices.

After extensive research with our riders, it was obvious we couldn’t just make a smaller copy of Uber. We needed to reimagine the experience for India and key markets around the world. The result is Uber Lite.

Peter Deng, Head of Rider Product, Uber to IANS

Uber also highlighted that the app retains the core functionality of the rider app with features like the emergency button and share trip available on this one.

Uber Lite guides users through the request experience by detecting their current location. If it can't detect your location because of GPS or network issues, it guides you to choose popular landmarks nearby, Uber said in a statement.

Additionally, the app stores the city's top places so that even when you are offline, no network is needed for them to appear. Interestingly, Uber pointed out that the regular Maps screen will be hidden by default (to save up data and space) and can be accessed whenever needed.

(With inputs from IANS.)