Facebook Lite comes to Canada and other developed countries

Facebook recently brought its data-friendly app to markets where solid wireless networks already exist. Facebook Lite was first introduced in 2015 in territories where wireless carriers didn’t provide reliable or fast network connectivity. And that’s mainly the reason why Facebook decided to launch it even in developed countries. In a statement sent to Reuters, Facebook says that even in developed countries like Canada, there are some smartphone owners that experience lower connectivity in their areas. Some of the other countries that get access to the lite version of Facebook include the US, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Facebook Lite’s file size is less than 1MB, making it easier to download even when using a slow mobile connection. But the app itself still has the main Facebook features like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications, and other options.

Source: Android Authority

Apple Music on Android gets update to improve playback reliability

Apple Music gets its second app update for the month to improve some playback reliability and crashing issues some users might be experiencing with the app. Version 2.4.1 fixes things like the app unexpectedly quitting when opening the Library as well as making music playback more reliable. This update comes on the heels of the app getting new music video features like background audio playback, music video playlist support, and picture-in-picture playback.

Source: 9to5Google

Reddit will soon offer promoted posts to advertisers on its mobile apps

Similar to what Facebook has done, Reddit is gearing up to sell promoted posts to its advertisers for both Android and iOS apps. According to Marketing Land, Reddit sent out an email to its advertisers about this claiming that its mobile users account for 41 percent of the time its users spend on the site. Promoted posts have been available for the desktop since 2016. Reddit promises to get the same targeting as the desktop ones, which is by interest, community, geography, and device. These will also get upvotes, downvotes, and comments. It’s coming on Monday, March 19 to iOS users and will hit Android devices in the coming weeks.

Source: CNET

Drake breaks Twitch’s record for most-viewed, non-tournament stream while playing ‘Fortnite’

Canadian rapper Drake broke records in an unlikely place. He dropped into pro-gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins’s stream of the popular sandbox shooter Fortnite: Battle Royale with NFL rookie turned gamer JuJu Smith-Schuster (FaZeJuJu_19) and rapper Travis Scott (cactus_jackk92). In case you were curious, Drake’s username is TheBoyDuddus. At the peak of the stream, it hit over 635,000 concurrent viewers, which completely overtook Dr. DisRespect’s previous non-tournament stream record of 388,888. The streaming service’s all-time Twitch record goes to Eleague Major: Boston with over 1.1 concurrent viewers.

Source: Polygon