Android Go is Google’s push towards the next 2 billion smartphones

The idea behind Go is to make Android run smoothly on the most basic Android smartphones, including devices with less than 1GB of RAM.

(AP photo)

Google's Android operating system is now powering more than 2 billion devices globally, but the company's attention is now on the next 2 billion. In comparison, Apple announced in January that 1 billion devices globally are running iOS. To achieve that next 2 billion target, Google is taking another shot at budget Android phones, which are expected to drive volumes. And for that, Google is embarking on a new project called Android Go, which will be a lightweight version of the upcoming Android O operating system.

The idea behind Go is to make Android run smoothly on the most basic Android smartphones, including devices with less than 1GB of RAM. These devices in general run very low power processors, limited connectivity options, don't have much storage and sometimes require multi-lingual capabilities which the masses might require. There are three parts to the Go project—the operating system, Google's own apps, and third-party apps that'll be specifically designed for this nimbler platform.

Google says that Android Go will also have a Play Store version on it, which will highlight apps that are specifically designed for the platform—these apps should be less than 10MB in size and must be able to work, albeit with limited functionality, even without an active internet connection. For its own apps, for example, Google will turn on the Data Saver mode in Chrome by default on devices running Android Go, and it'll come with the lighter YouTube Go instead of the standard YouTube app.

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