Facebook Launches Free Mobile Apps On 2,500 Java Phones

With more than 250 million mobile users, Facebook knows that it has to be on every mobile phone in the planet to keep riding the social wave as the web becomes more mobile. And that means more than just being on iPhone and Android phones.

Today, Facebook is addressing the 2,500 feature phones out there that can download Java apps with a new app called Facebook for Every Phone. It includes a lightweight News Feed, an inbox for your Facebook Messages, and a way to upload and share photos directly from your phone. You can download it at m.facebook.com or mobile app stores like GetJar, Appia, and Mobile Weaver.

To get people to try it, Facebook will pay for the first 90 days worth of data the app uses. (Facebook designed it to be data efficient).

The new app looks like a direct byproduct of Facebook’s acquisition of Snaptu back in March. It is in keeping with Facebook’s other projects to make sure Facebook is accessible and fast on all devices across the world such as Facebook Zero (for text-only access on mobile phones) or its now-defunct Facebook Lite experiment.