Earlier, Google announced its new version of Android targeted at entry level devices in India and Indonesia dubbed Android Oreo (Go Edition). As part of the launch, it also released a new app called Google Go which is aimed at getting those new to the web started with search, it’s now available in the two countries mentioned earlier as a preview.
In a blog post, Google said:
"Google Go is tailor-made for the millions of people in those countries coming online for the first time. It’s simple to use and fast even on entry level devices and spotty connections, making discovering, sharing and finding content easier and more reliable."
Google identified three issues that it decided to address with the new search app; firstly, typing on a small device can be slow and cumbersome, secondly, many phones don’t have a lot of storage space or good mobile connections, and lastly, switching between languages during a search can be slow.
Google has introduced a tap-first interface with Google Go so that people can find things faster but also have things to search for if they’re not sure what’s possible. For those with a bad network connection and low storage, the app is less than 5MB and results are optimised to save up to 40 percent of data. To address the language issue, Google Go makes it very easy to switch and see search results in another language.
It’s good to see Google optimising its software for the conditions of countries such as India, hopefully with time Google will decide to make the efficient app available to people all over the world who might be restricted in terms of data and storage space.
Source: Google