This pilot app works when connections are sluggish and uses less data. It also has features that work offline. Along with Google search capabilities, it also has icons that easily get you to things like news, weather and a translation page and you can personalize those icons so the page only shows features you're interested in.

Other lite apps that have been released included versions from Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, all of which are geared towards emerging markets. But as we know, the US has some pretty serious gaps in internet coverage and these sorts of apps could be very welcome in certain regions. However, for now, Search lite is only being tested in Indonesia.