Google is certainly eyeing to tackle the markets of developing countries by innovating its platform to adjust with the requirements of countries with little to least resources. The launch of Android Go and apps like Google Go back in 2017 was the continuation of the same well-thought agenda. If you wonder what makes the Android Go Edition different from the rest of Google’s operating systems? Well, the explanation is simple but requires certain technical aspects that is better to clarify calmly.
Most of us are familiar with the classic Android version which has its popularity second to none as far as the numbers of devices are concerned. Then comes the Stock Android experience, known as Android One which basically provides users with a simpler and efficient Android experience without the hassle of handling the cumbersome skins installed by the smartphone manufacturer. By the way, these skins are mostly filled with extreme bloatware especially in Chinese phones like Huawei, Oppo, and others. Then there comes the latest of them, Android Go. The main thing is that this Edition is a version of the operating system designed for devices with fewer resources. What Google engineers did is to lighten the functions of the Go Edition so that their applications do not lose their performance in entry-level cell phones. With the help of this latest platform Google aims to adhere the simpler phones to their ecosystem, and improve the user experience in them to encourage Android to continue expanding. There are numbers of Go apps that have been directly developed by Google itself, that run on the Android Go platform. Let’s talk about one of the pioneer apps in this power-efficient league of applications.
Google Go App
Go is basically a language program which enables the app to be seamless and optimal. The generation born after the ’80s realizes that without the search engine “Google” life can become laborious. We are not among those who have the patience to go in libraries and bear the pain of commuting, and having to socialize just for a small piece of information. We love the modern way of holding our smartphone and having all the basic information in our palm. However, those who were having a smartphone with little juice in terms of RAM, battery, chipset, and storage were left behind and were forced to wait for the webpage to load for information to come onboard.
This app is a solution from Google to all those who are stuck with low-end smartphones. Google is an essential element for any Android terminal, however, when it comes to low-end smartphones with little power in their hardware, using that search engine can become a real headache, especially if the mobile connection is slow. Fortunately, Google Go exists now. Google Go is a more agile, lighter and less demanding version of the engine, which allows practically all its functions without requiring many intelligent device resources and modern utilities in a smartphone.
Quick access to search sections, weather, and voice-activated functions are the basic elements of Google Go that discard its heavy interface, based on application cards, to opt for a lighter one with buttons that open each link separately. This new distribution of its internal architecture allows the application to work more quickly in those territories where mobile connection speeds are very slow since there are no processes, nor downloads running in the background that slow everything down.
Google Go is the ultra-light version of the Google application for Android and this is a renewal of Google Search Lite. Opening the application, it asks us to set the language. Once there, it takes us to the main screen where, through circular icons of different colors, it moves us from one click to various tools such as YouTube, Google Translate, Maps or search of websites, images or GIFs. We also have voice search. The idea is to click and it will open a search tab that will recommend us topics.
Organized Search
Google facilitates searches at deeper levels than usual. In fact, the contextual and semantic information of Google, plays a very important role. They no longer offer us so many links but the information that Google has is better organized. Here they try to lighten the consumption of mobile data, strengthen their position as an intelligent assistant and get used to a type of search further away from the desktop.
The search for images and GIFs is also very well adapted, with big suggestions that gets updated as we write. From a click, we can access the most trending queries. The images are quite compressed and unfortunately, we have lost along the way the possibility of saving offline pages that we did have in Search Lite. However, we can understand that saving the offline pages are a burden on ever ending internal storage.
One of the few customization options that Google Go allows is to change the main wallpaper. Beyond that, everything is very basic.
Featherweight Champion
Google promises consumption of up to 40% fewer data compared to the traditional Google application. This difference is not noticeable in terms of results since it almost always offers us the same. However, they have it organized in another way; taking more space for the contextual information and relatively less space for the rest of the results.
In the same way, time options or Google Translate work easily. We do not have very elaborate graphics or all the tools of instantaneous translation of the translator, but just the main part. The installation of Google Go occupies less than 5MB and once installed on our device, does not consume more storage. A clear difference from the standard Google official application that always stays in the background and RAM consumption is much higher.
One last detail is the Google Go search widget. It clearly has a less careful design, we are not given the option to write directly and we do not have the OK Google function in the widget. But these are details after all. The application as of late come to more than 100 million downloads in the Play Store, this means the features of Android Go interface are truly beginning to get popular. Last September Google Go scarcely made it past 10 million downloads, so it would appear that the hunt mammoth’s push to oblige the individuals who can’t manage (or don’t need) costly cell phones is after all satisfying.
How to Access
Those interested in trying Google Go can download the APK since Google Play is still limited by countries. A single application such as Google Go does not make the difference, but Android Go looks good because it offers almost the same solution for much fewer resources. Android Go is only available for smartphones having less storage and RAM, less than 1 GB. The apps here have the affix attached to them saying it’s a GO app and doesn’t provide any kind of personalization. Here are some of the salient benefits of this edition.
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Advantages of the Android Go Edition
Lightweight System
Android Go Edition optimizes the performance of devices with 1GB of RAM or less by being lighter and consuming fewer resources, therefore, leaving extra storage available for users.
Redesigned Applications
Android Oreo 8.1 and Pie (Go Edition) includes redesigned apps, aimed at improving performance and usability. These Go applications consume less battery, memory and mobile data.
Greater Internal Storage
Android Go Edition reduces its size in the internal memory of the devices, which makes users enjoy up to twice the storage capacity (ROM).
Better Experience:
Navigation is faster, avoiding the load of the most demanding applications.
Specialized Virtual Store
The Android Go Edition features the Play Store-Go store that prioritizes the applications that will work best on smartphones with outdated chipset and less RAM. Here we can see apps like Facebook Lite and Skype Lite.
Android Go makes Sense but…
Android Go would make some sense if the phones that carry this hardware were sold at 60 or 70 dollars because, honestly, they are not worth another cent. The promise of smaller apps, optimization of memory and a lighter system is great, as long as you do not encourage the creation of hardware that was born obsolete in 2018.
Needless to say that Android Go can’t be customized by the manufacturer, and does not ensure a clean experience like Android One. This makes manufacturers like Samsung make their own version of the old TouchWiz with Android Go apps.
There are no excuses, no personal opinions, and no subjectivities along the way. Objectively, the current phones with Android Go are not worth it, not even for the most basic public. We hope that, as happened with Android One, Android Go evolves and ceases to be an entry-level mobile system, and that it leads to an optimized and light version, which does not have to go hand in hand with obsolete specifications.
