YouTube Go hits 130 new markets
Last year, YouTube Go was launched in India as a lightweight version of the YouTube app. More than just being optimized for slow handsets with limited amounts of memory and storage space, YouTube Go is also targeting users with slow and capped mobile data connections.
After India, YouTube Go was introduced to other markets where mobile data is slow and expensive, such as Nigeria, Thailand, and Indonesia. Now, the time has come for it to reach no less than 130 new countries. Unfortunately, YouTube users in markets with fast mobile data like the UK, US, Japan, or South Korea do not get YouTube Go yet. This would be something useful for rural areas and remote locations where it is not as easy to find a reliable 4G LTE-covered area as in a large city or metropolitan area, so maybe Google will bring YouTube Go to these markets in the future as well.
The nearby sharing function allows YouTube Go users to share videos without using the mobile data (obviously, one user must download the video first). In addition to the local sharing capabilities, YouTube Go also allows its users to choose the quality/amount of data to use when downloading or viewing a video. The home screen features popular videos in the area where the user is located.
According to its Google Play page, YouTube Go has been downloaded by more than 10,000,000 people so far. The app currently holds a rating of 4.4 out of 5, after being reviewed by more than 67,000 Google Play users.