Lightweight Google Go now available worldwide

[steven36]

The Android app includes Lens and page-reading features.

 

 

 

Google's lightweight Google Go app will now be available globally, Google said Tuesday. At 7MB, the app is a much smaller version of the traditional Google app. It also offers versions of new Google features like Lens and an out-loud page-reader.

"Earlier this year at I/O, we showcased Lens in Google Go, a way for you to read, translate and search the words you see by using your camera," Google Go Product Manager Bibo Xu wrote in a blog post. "When you find text you'd like help with, open Lens and point your camera at it to hear the words read out loud to you, translate them, or both." 

The app is aimed at people who have to deal with an unreliable internet connection or who want to use less storage on their devices. Originally launched in 2017 as Android Go, the app came paired with several other lightweight apps designed with a nod toward developing countries. 

 

Google Go also offers an AI-powered read-aloud feature that lets users listen to any web page, Xu said. 

 

Google Go can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store.

 

Source

[DKT27]

All the Go apps should be available for all the Android phones and let the users decide. For example, the default keyboard app is too heavy, but the Go version is available, yet, it's not allowed to be downloaded on non-supported Android phones. That should change I think.

[p4psb]

Should you/can you uninstall other Google apps if you install Google Go?

[Karlston]

Google Go for Android is now available globally

Google Go, a lightweight application for Android to use Google Search and other Google services, is available globally now. Google launched the application back in 2017 in select regions and as part of Android Go.

 

Go is a relatively new line of applications by Google designed specifically for regions with less reliable Internet connectivity. Google published several Go apps for Android in recent years, most recently Photos Go, a lightweight alternative to the heavier Photos application on Android.

 

Other examples include YouTube Go, the files manager Files Go, or Google Maps Go. Google Go was known as Google Search Lite previously.

 

Google Go for Android is a lightweight alternative to Android's Google application. While it does not support all the features of the Google application, it supports popular features and may be an alternative (or the only option) for some users.

 

Google notes that the application uses less storage and memory than the Google application and that it has added some extra features to the application to reduce used storage on the device even further in some circumstances.

 

A list of tools and application links is displayed to you when you launch Google Go; that is different to the main Google application which displays news on its startpage.

 

The top two rows link to Google or Android specific tools and services. You may tap on search or voice search to run searches on the device, tap on images to run a search for images, check downloads, or open the YouTube application.

 

Lens is a relatively new feature that enables you to use the camera of the device to translate text or hear the words of text you point the camera at. Discover is still there but you need to activate the option to get a list of news items (the same that the Google app displays when you start it).

 

 

The two rows underneath link to the web versions of popular applications. You find links to Amazon, Wikipedia, Facebook, or Instagram there. An option to add apps or to display them all is provided as well.

 

Want to add Reddit, Pinterest, or eBay to the list? Just tap on add app to add it. Note that the selection seems to be based almost entirely on your region. When I opened the "all apps" listing, most apps offered to me on the page were German services and websites. Google Go offers no options to change the region.

 

It is easy enough to add shortcuts to web versions of sites and services that you use without using Google Go. If you use Chrome on Android, all you need to do is open the site in question and select Menu > Add to Home afterward.

 

Google Go may open special "lite" versions of these sites. You need to open the application's Settings and enable the lite option there first, however. Lite versions focus on the content and remove other elements of webpages to speed up the loading of pages.

Closing Words

Google Go and the entire Go line of apps is an attempt to win over users who don't have the best of experiences with the standard Google apps. If you do use the Google app on your Android device you may want to check out Google Go to see if it suits you better; this may be the case especially if you notice slow-downs or other issues while using the main Google application.

 

Some of the included features may be useful to some users, e.g. the Lens functionality to translate text that you focus the camera on. Google does not reveal anything about the data that it collects when users use the application. The company links to the global Privacy Policy which does not mention Google Go specifically.

 

 

 

Source: Google Go for Android is now available globally (gHacks - Martin Brinkmann)

[Karlston]

Similar topics merged.