Google is discontinuing its lightweight YouTube Go app, which was created for phones with limited storage and access to reliable LTE and 5G networks. Improvements to the normal YouTube app, have rendered this feature obsolete. The app will be available for download until August in the Google Play Store. The app reduced YouTube to its essentials, removing features such as commenting, posting, and video creation that were not required.
“When we first introduced YouTube Go in 2016, it was intended for viewers in areas where poor connectivity, high data prices, and low-end devices prevented us from providing the best experience possible in the main YouTube app. Since then, YouTube has invested in improvements to the main YouTube app that make it perform better in these environments, while also delivering a better user experience which is inclusive of our entire community,” the YouTube team said.
YouTube Go is just one of a slew of apps Google (and other tech companies) have rolled out to accommodate cheaper phones with weaker processors and lower storage caps. These have mostly been Android phones running Android Go, but the cancellation of this latest app makes it apparent that not all these apps have a long shelf life.
Some of them, like Google’s Files Go, eventually receive enough updates that they become full-featured apps in themselves, while others like YouTube Go or Instagram Lite eventually die off as the web becomes better and good phones from Xiaomi and OnePlus become cheaper and cheaper. As Google progresses in its work with Android Go, we will find out if the Lite operating system will eventually follow one of those two paths.
News Summary:
- The Google YouTube Go app is being phased out
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