Google Go App Launched, Files Go Comes to All Android Devices, Oreo Go Edition Goes Live
Ravi Sharma, 05 December 2017
A new app, named Google Go,
has been launched to give the unified Google experience to Internet
users on low-end handsets. The app provides access to Google services
such as Search, Voice Search, GIFs, YouTube,
Translate, and Maps and includes a search bar to provide a unified
experience. Google Go also offers search trends and top stories from the
Web on any particular topics. It was launched by the company at its
Google for India event on Tuesday. Also announced was the Android Oreo
(Go Edition) for entry-level smartphones, as well as the official launch of Files Go.
Shashidhar
Thakur, VP engineering, Google, said at the event, "We gathered
feedback from hundreds of Indian cities to make the power of Internet
accessible for new users through Google Go."
Apart from Google services, the new Go app provides users access to Facebook,
CricBuzz, and Instagram. It includes a button that helps users
translate their search queries with one tap. Weighing less than 5MB
size, Google Go consumes 40 percent less data and is optimised for
devices with less than 1GB of RAM. It will be available for download for
all Android devices starting Tuesday and will come pre-installed on
Android Go devices.
For smartphones with 512MB-1GB of RAM, Google announced Oreo Go, a version of Android 8.0 Oreo
optimised for low-end smartphones. It will become available over the
next few months, while its code is now available for developers through
Android 8.1. Devices running on Oreo Go will have an average 15 percent
faster app startup time, the company said, and preloaded apps will be
optimised will take up 50 percent less space on the available storage.
Google said an average Oreo Go device will be able to store an extra
1,000 photos with these optimisations.
"Android Oreo (Go edition)
will help improve the experience on entry-level phones while new apps
like Files Go will ensure their experience is smooth and they consume
less data," Caesar Sengupta, Vice-President, Next Billion Users, said.
He told PTI that he expects handset makers to bring smartphones based on
Android Oreo (Go) edition in early 2018.
Oreo Go will come with
get the same security features as available on the standard version,
including Google Play Protect. Go edition devices will come with Data
Saver features active by default. The users will be able to download any
apps, but there is a new section that includes optimised apps
especially for the Go edition devices, such as Facebook Lite
and Flipkart. Google apps have been worked upon as well to work better
on low-end devices, and the Go versions of Assistant, Gmail, Chrome,
Search, Maps, YouTube, and Gboard will be preloaded on all Oreo Go
devices.
Apart from Google Go and Oreo Go, the Files Go app was
officially launched at the event, after being spotted in testing last
month, and will also be pre-installed on Go edition devices. It has been
custom built for Go edition devices and helps free up space on the
phone, find files faster, and share files offline with people in the
vicinity. The app prompts users to delete heavy files or files from a
particular sources (for example, WhatsApp),
and allows them to delete the said files in just two taps. With
advances in computer vision, the Files Go app will let users delete
certain images (such as images received in 'good morning' messages on
instant messaging apps).
It will also let users create a closed network accessible only by
approved smartphones in the vicinity to share files by creating a
hotspot, which the company says is 200 times faster than Bluetooth
transfers. Files Go is also designed to help users find files faster, by
segregating files by type and allowing quick uploads to the cloud.
A special edition of Google Assistant was also announced for the Jio Phone at the event, the first AI-based digital assistant for a feature phone.
