[JUNE 2014] Facebook recently rolled out an update for Android devices that’s supposed to speed things up for users. If that update delivered on its promise, then you’ve got the company’s trip to Africa to thank – that’s how Facebook’s engineers got a taste of how slow the app can be on low-end phones with developing nations’ internet speeds. One of the social network’s engineers, Alex Sourov, detailed in a blog post how they bought several low-end Android phones in Africa to test out their app, which didn’t only crash repeatedly, but also loaded really slowly. Even worse, they ended up consuming a month’s worth of data plan within 40 just minutes trying to use the app. It became apparent that they needed to give their Android app an overhaul if the social network wants to reach even more people around the globe – so they did.

Facebook’s company trip to Africa leads to more efficient Android app

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