Android Go is a cut-down version of Android designed to run on phones with 2GB of RAM or less. The latest version is modelled on Android 10 and optimises the OS, Google apps and the Google Play store to provide a faster experience on handsets with less hardware power.
Android Operating System
The operating system has been optimised to take up less storage space. It comes with an improved File manager to clean up and free up space, and a built-in data manager that gives you better control over the apps using your data.
Security is also paramount in Android Go, which has the same security features as Android 10. So, it has Find My Device to allow you to track your phone down by signing into your Google account from another device. It also scans all installs, no matter where they were downloaded from, even if you are offline. Finally, round the clock scans keep your smartphone protected.
Google Apps
Google has specifically changed a number of its apps to run better on Android Go. Firstly, they are 50% smaller in size (40MB for apps and 65MB for games) than normal ones and there less installed out-of-the-box making available twice the storage than for normal Android. These apps are also quicker to load and include:
- Chrome
- Google Go
- Google Assistant Go
- Google Maps Go
- Gmail Go
- YouTube Go
- Gboard Go
- Google Play Store
- Files Go
- Gallery Go
Google Play Store
Google have teamed up with leading app developers to make sure there is a brand new and equally reliable suite of apps available for Android Go. These include apps like, Instagram, WhatsApp, Spotify, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter and iPlayer.
Google hope that Android Go will bring the benefits of smartphone apps to those emerging markets where disposable incomes are not high and consequently expensive smartphones are not as ubiquitous. By making these available to users of lower specified smartphones, the market as a whole should grow.
