In a bid to connect and reach the next billion consumers, Google today on its 18th anniversary took the stage at the ‘Google for India’ event in New Delhi to announce a slew of initiatives for the Indian masses. Among them is a new YouTube application on a diet, designed specifically keeping the users of India(i.e us! Yay!) in mind because it is expected to work in limited connectivity areas as well.
The new application designed to broaden the scope and accessibility of the video streaming service has been christened ‘YouTube Go’. And since the app prioritizes our needs for a lightweight video streaming platform, the app will first be available for us(Indians) to test before a broader rollout. It has been designed for you crazy video and compilation junkies, while also expanding its use to those ‘still’ untouched by the platform.
Commenting on the launch of the app, Johanna Wright, VP, YouTube product management says,
YouTube Go is a brand new app to help the next generation of users share and enjoy videos. YouTube Go was designed and built from the ground up with insights from India, in order to bring the power of video to mobile users in a way that is more conscious of their data and connectivity, while still being locally relevant and social.
Now, let’s take a look at the features of the new toned-down version of YouTube. It provides you with all the basic functionalities of the YouTube application, but brings into the mix some specific features for the spotty internet connectivity prone areas.
Much like the original application, the ‘Go’ version of the streaming service also lays immense focus on ‘Smart Offline’ viewing of content. But, it now takes the experience a step ahead by giving you video previews so you can decide if you want to watch them right then and there or save it for later. It also provides you with options to control the quality and file size — so you’ll now know how much data(and also storage) you require to view/download the desired video.
This will allow you to save the required videos in your catalaog and watch them later without any buffering — even when you’re on a slow connection(which we usually are!?). Also, though the company might(still unsure) have not been able to introduce the ‘Community’ social features into the ‘Go’ app, but it has added something even better. You now have the option to share the videos you’ve saved with your nearby friends and family without using any data. Then how you ask? The answer is simple — bluetooth(see the featured screenshot above).
YouTube Go app will be available to download from Google Play in early 2017, but you(yes, you!! the users in India!) can head to the sign-up page to be notified of the same when it arrives. In addition, Google has also detailed next steps for the expansion of the Wi-Fi network to go beyond railway stations and cover public places across the globe.
