Google releases YouTube Go app for millions of people on slow internet
YouTube's new app for India's flaky internet market is finally here.
A beta version of YouTube Go app, first unveiled last year, has gone live on Google Play, the company says.
Google plans to release a stable version of the app later and also intends to make it available in other developing markets.
Unveiled at Google for India event last September, YouTube Go has been designed to work on slow and flaky internet connections.
The app offers a range of features to give users more control over how they want to consume videos. Users can save videos for offline viewing, for instance, and also select the video resolution in accordance with their internet availability.
Additionally, users can also share videos between them using Wi-Fi Direct capability, a feature that the flagship YouTube app doesn’t offer. These features could come in handy for Indians.
Even as an increasingly growing number of Indian people are coming online, the quality of internet remains poor for most. According to a report by Akamai, only about 30 percent of Indians have a connection that is faster than 4Mbps.
Google originally planned to make YouTube Go available in India late last year, but the company says it took additional time to perform extensive tests.
"Some things we’ve learned in the run-up to this beta release include making the home screen fresher and more relevant for users, so they can find amazing videos easily," Jay Akkad, Product Manager, YouTube wrote in a blog post.
"We’ve also worked hard behind the scenes to make sharing videos with nearby friends an even more seamless experience, and ensuring that the app works well across a wide range of phones and connectivity."
