Google is removing its lightweight YouTube Go app, designed for phones with little memory and limited access to reliable LTE and 5G networks. The app will be available for download on the Play Store until August. The app reduced YouTube to the bare essentials and removed unnecessary things like commenting, posting, or creating a video.
“When we launched YouTube Go in 2016, it was designed for viewers in places where connectivity, data pricing, and low-cost devices didn’t allow us to provide the best possible experience for the main YouTube app. Since then, YouTube has invested in improvements to the main YouTube app to improve its performance in these environments, as well as provide a better user experience that includes our entire community. The YouTube team said.
YouTube Go is just one of many apps that Google (and other tech companies) have deployed for cheaper phones with weaker processors and smaller storage capacity. These were mostly Android phones running Android Go, but the cancellation of this last app makes it obvious that not all of these apps have a long shelf life.
Some, like Google’s Files Go, end up getting enough updates to become full-featured apps on their own, while others like YouTube Go or Instagram Lite end up dying off as the internet gets better and good phones from Xiaomi and OnePlus get cheaper and cheaper. . As Google progresses on Android Go, we’ll find out if the Lite operating system will go one of these two ways.