Android Go
For those who are new to the word, Android Go is nothing but the slimmed down version of the Android system released by Google for entry-level phones. The aim is to cut down on the storage space occupied by the apps to make a device having low RAM size work efficiently. It is a nice strategy adopted by Google to expand its business. It focuses on three major areas: The Play Store, the Apps, and the Operating System.
Android Go Play Store
With the aim to reduce the space utilized by apps on the Android and to make it lightweight, Google released a new Play store called Android Go Play Store. It is the same as the Google Play Store. The only difference is that the apps in Android Go Play Store are meant for entry-level smartphones to run the apps flawlessly on such devices.
Android Go Apps
Google has launched the same set of apps as found in the regular version of Android. But these occupy 50% less storage space on the device and yet function similar in performance. The Android Go apps include Gmail Go, YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, Google Assistant Go, and Files Go.
Difference Between Android Apps and Android Go Apps
Let us lay out a comparison between Android Apps and Android Go apps.
1. Gmail and Gmail Go:
Google created Gmail Go as users with low-priced smartphones also find it convenient to send and receive emails within the touch of their fingertips. However, the regular Gmail app may occupy much of the space making it inconvenient for them to store it on their low storage device. A Gmail Go file may consume only 24.8 MB of the device storage while the regular app utilizes as much as 260MB of the RAM. The features of both the apps are more or less similar.
2. Google Map and Google Map Go:
Another in the list is Google Map Go with APK size of only 0.009 MB. While that for the Google Map is 48MB. Google Map Go offers the feature of real-time location sharing as similar to its regular version. However, it does not have the option for navigation. It requires you to download another app called ‘Navigation for Google Map Go’ in order to use this feature.
3. YouTube and YouTube Go:
Google created YouTube Go with the aim to introduce a light variant of YouTube, a popular video app. While the lighter version may not provide you with all the features like subscription and channels, it does allow the basic functionality of playing and downloading the videos. Moreover, the size of YouTube is 122 MB while that for the Go version is only 29 MB.
4. Google Assistant and Google Assistant Go:
Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Google Assistant Go functions very much similar to its regular version. However, you don’t get the access to advanced facilities of controlling smart home devices, device actions, and reminders.
Additional Facilities of Android Go Apps
- Files Go:
Files Go is a File Manager introduced by Google for entry-level phones to avoid downloading third-party file explorers that weigh more on a device. A normal file explorer may occupy around 22 MB of the space on the Android phone, but Files Go only occupies 14.4 MB of the storage.
It has some nice features of duplicating the files, deleting low-resolution images and app cache.
- Smaller Thumbnails:
The thumbnails of recently visited Go apps are much smaller in comparison to the thumbnails of the Android version. It expands during the loading to give an impression that they are loading much faster.
Conclusion
With the Android Go apps, devices having low storage space can use the Android apps without having storage issues. Google has introduced the set of Android Go apps keeping low-cost smartphone devices in mind. Now, anyone having an entry-level smartphone can use these apps without any performance glitches.