Facebook announced to launch its Instant Articles for Android beta today in Asia including region China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore. Previously, a small Android beta of the feature launched in India last month. Now, it is available across many countries with more than 50 publishers.
This instant article allows 10 times faster loading of news and features within Facebook mobile newsfeed from selected 50 media partners.
This Instant article went live in US in May with media including New York Times, National Geographic and BuzzFeed and till october it opened for all iPhone users. It arrived on iOS for Latin America users from starting of this week.
Andy Mitchell, Facebook’s director of global media partnerships, said in a blog post, “Expanding Instant Articles to Asia is a significant milestone for the product and for each of our early launch partners”.
“Instant Articles has been designed with extensive feedback from publishers, and we’re excited to bring this collaboration to our publishing partners in Asia to help them distribute fast, interactive articles to their readers in the Facebook app.” He added.
Each of Instant Article has a sign like lightning bolt, which shows it is going to have a fast, interactive experience. With a faster experience, Instant Articles also introduces some interactive features which allow publishers to bring their news or stories to public in new ways.
You can Zoom-in and also explore high-resolution photos in Facebook mobile just by tilting your phone. Also you can explore interactive maps and can listen to audio captions. You can like and comment on individual parts of an article in-line. Watching auto-play videos gives nice experience as you scroll through stories.
Ken Cheung, Head of Media Partnerships, APAC, Facebook said, “We worked closely with our early media partners in Asia to begin rolling out Instant Articles across the region. Internationally, publishers are already sharing thousands of Instant Articles on Facebook each day, and looking ahead we’re excited to partner with more publishers in Asia to bring the Instant Articles experience to more people”.
- China: CCTVNEWS
- Hong Kong: Ming Pao Daily News
- India: Aajtak, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Indian Express, The Quint
- Indonesia: Kompas.com, Merdeka.com
- Korea: SBS News
- Malaysia: Sin Chew Daily
- Philippines: ABS-CBN News, GMA Network, GMA News, INQUIRER.net, Rappler
- Singapore: The Straits Times
- Taiwan: Apple Daily Taiwan, Chinatimes.com, ETtoday, Next Magazine Taiwan
- Thailand: Kom Chad Luek
- Vietnam: VnExpress, WebTretho
- China: China Daily
- Hong Kong: Apple Daily, Oriental Daily News, The South China Morning Post
- Indonesia: detikcom, Liputan6.com, Tribunnews
- Malaysia: Astro AWANI, Berita Harian, China Press, Harian Metro, Malaysiakini, New Straits Times, Oriental Daily News Malaysia, The Star Online
- Taiwan: Sanlih E-Television News, United Daily News Group, Vogue Taiwan
- Thailand: Dailynews, Kapook.com, Khao Sod, Nation TV, Prachachat, Matichon, MGR Online, Thairath
- Vietnam: Thanh Niên, Tuoi Tre, Zing.vn
Image and News Source: Facebook
