Why we preinstall our apps
Smartphones come with preinstalled apps for web browsing, messaging, email, video, photos, music, and other popular experiences and features. We work with partners who preinstall to ensure that people get the best version of our apps for their device. These preinstalled user apps function just like versions available in app stores.
Working with partners on preinstall programs helps us improve the compatibility of our apps with each device model. Differences in screen resolution, processors, available memory, and new technical innovations can affect app performance and user experience. Optimizing apps for the device they’ll run on means the apps will run faster and be less likely to crash. For example, on devices with less memory, we recommend Facebook Lite.
In addition to providing benefits for people on new devices, our program also aims to ensure that our apps continue to work well on devices over time. On KaiOS, our apps are server-based so that most new features and improvements can be delivered to devices quickly. On Android phones, we support delivering notifications and app updates for our apps through preinstalled system apps. These system apps (Facebook App Manager, Facebook App Installer, and Facebook Services) improve the security and user experience of Facebook apps for the life of the device.
Preinstalled apps can be especially helpful for those who are new to the internet or who live in areas that have limited connectivity, such as emerging markets. Due to constrained disk space, high data costs, and limited data access, people in emerging markets aren’t always able to keep their apps updated to the most current version. As a result, the apps people use are sometimes more than a year old and may be missing important performance, stability, and security improvements — or the best and latest mobile features, like video chat. In Burundi and Rwanda, up to 50 percent of devices are running Facebook Android apps that are more than a year out of date.
