Twitter has acquired video chat app Squad, and it seems plans are already afoot by the company to incorporate the app’s group video chat feature as a new feature on Twitter.

The Squad app allowed users to share their screens in both mobile and desktop settings in group video chat mode. Reports emanating from TechCrunch says that the app has been shut down by Twitter as the interfacing seems to have begun in earnest.

Ilya Brown from Twitter’s Product team let us into the unfolding development by sharing the news in a tweet a few days back. Brown expressed excitement to be afforded the opportunity to share the information that the Squad team will be joining Twitter to provide new and exciting ways for people to interact, express themselves, and join in the public conversation. Brown went further to state in the tweet that interactive audio and video chats are very important requirements in the future direction of the app and align with the type of conversations Twitter is hoping to introduce.  

With hints provided by Brown on having a similar feature on Twitter very soon, it was expected that the Squad app will be out of service almost immediately. The Squad app was subsequently shut down on December 12.  

A group video chat tool would certainly not be the first new feature to change the way that users interact with each other on Twitter. The social media giant launched the fleets feature in November 2020, which allowed users to express their thoughts in a temporary, story-like template that disappears after 24 hours.

Twitter account holders could see the number of persons that had viewed their fleets, and also respond to individual fleets via direct message.

Twitter’s fleet feature follows the precedence laid by Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and a few others who already have a story feature in their platform.

Twitter has also announced that stickers and live broadcasting would be integral parts of fleets, going forward. 

We keep our fingers crossed as we wait to see whether Twitter will provide Squad-like video and screen-sharing in the app soon.

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The post Twitter acquires video chat and screen-sharing startup, Squad appeared first on Gizmochina.

Popular social media apps have lite versions which have been designed for markets where internet service is not reliable and or very expensive. These lite apps such as Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite, and Twitter Lite are also the best option for phones with low resources as they take up less space and require less processing power. Today, Facebook has announced a new Instagram Lite app, adding to the list of toned-down apps for Android phones.

Yes, this is a new one as there used to be one before which was shut down by Facebook earlier this year. The new Instagram Lite app was announced by Facebook at an event in India today dubbed “Facebook Fuel for India”. The app which is just under 2MB in file size ditches some features you will find on the main app such as Reels, Shopping, and IGTV for a faster and even cleaner experience. If you are one of those who don’t like the aforementioned features, then the Instagram Lite app is for you.

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For now, the Instagram Lite app is limited to India and it is available in multiple local languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

It is not surprising that India is getting the app first. The South-Asian country is the country with the highest amount of Facebook users – over 310 million users according to a November 2020 report by Statista. Facebook says it plans to expand availability to more countries when it is done with the testing in India. However, one should be able to sideload the APK.

The original Instagram Lite app was discontinued in May due to some unstated issues. The new app which was listed on the Play Store earlier this month already has about 5 million installs.

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The post Facebook announces a new Instagram Lite app with less features and a ~2MB size appeared first on Gizmochina.