How Google's Lightweight Go Apps Work—and Why You Might Need Them

How Google's Lightweight Go Apps Work-

You may have seen Google launching a succession of cut-down, lightweight, basic apps under the Go label. The idea is that they are intended for countries where a combination of spotty Internet and tight data caps do one thing using all the cool apps on your phone. Not just the issues that are happening abroad. Spotty Internet and tight data caps can also occur in the US. Which means that Android Go apps can only be useful here.

It is worth noting that all these apps are not going to be available to you through the Google Play Store, as they are region-locked in some cases. The ones you can't get through normal means can be accessed by visiting APKMirror in your mobile web browser and searching for relevant apps.

They are all tied into the Android Go operating system, which is itself a cut-down version of the main Android OS for entry-level smartphones and less-than-reliable connections. Clutter and down to a minimum is the order of the day, and this means that some common bells and whistles are lost along the way.

One thing to note about all these apps is their small file size, often just a few megabytes (yes, it's megabytes). Not only does this mean that they download more quickly, but it also means that they open in Snap, even on older hardware. However there is agreement on the way and we will meet them.

It should be noted that the only app that we were not able to work on our phones without any apparent reason we could understand is Google Assistant Go. Like other apps here, it offers a lighter version of Assistant - we're not able to test it, but Smart Home Control and Reminder are two features that are missing compared to the main app.

The recently launched Go app is built around photographs. The main difference in this stripped-down version of Google Photos is that there is no online access - you cannot view your pictures and videos on the web, just what you have stored locally on your device.

Despite the lack of access to cloud processing offered by Google Photos, there is some local AI to work with, as your photos will be sorted into basic folders such as selfies, animals, nature and food. You can also create folders manually to make it easier to get around your library.

The application does not include any menus or settings, just a photos tab or a folder tab. And editing is limited. You can rotate and crop photos, apply an auto fix, apply multiple filters, and that's it.

Do you need to install it? It works well as a lightweight photo viewer and can be even easier to use than Google Photos in terms of actually getting around pictures saved in your phone. But if you have a web connection then you are always going to turn on Google Photos.

Files Go or rather, Files by Google is one of the more capable Go apps, and these days the files you get as part of Android are just as capable as applications (although perhaps not as easy on the eye. ). You can also dig into folders on your device, as well as browse by file type (downloads, images, videos, audio, and so on).

If Files Go has a special mission in life, however, it's helping free space on your Android device: it has a dedicated clean tab just for this purpose, where you need to remove duplicate files, junk files What you do not need is given, and the files are automatically supported by instant messengers. All this is optional but the app shows you how much space you can save in each case.

You can also use files via the Google app to share files with others nearby who also have the app installed. It works like an ad hoc WiFi network, so no data is used - it's very much on the lines of the airdrop feature you get with iOS.

This is pretty much an app anyone can use (which may be Google has removed "Go" under its name): clean-up and file sharing features are really useful, especially if you want to Work with those features with minimal effort on your part. The actual file browsing also works really well.

It is one of the go apps that makes the most changes from its full-size, fully featured counterparts, and they are also really smart changes. For a beginner the interface is much less cluttered, with no stories, or links to YouTube movies, or access to your own videos, or auto-play previews as you scroll through.

You can basically use the recommended videos, your subscriptions, and the search function, and that's it. But in terms of useful features, the key is the ability to download videos instead of playing them - you get the option to tap on the video each time, play it or download it later.

Not only that, you get a selection of three video quality settings to choose from (Data Saver, Standard and High). The app shows you how much storage space each person will take, and how much is left on your phone. You can choose to instantly stream video at any of those three quality settings.

This makes YouTube Go very useful for traveling to or from places where a connection can come and go (you can do this on regular YouTube, but only with a YouTube Premium membership). Additional features such as high quality 4K playback, Google Cast buttons and subtitles are off the table, but you can live without them.


Unlike YouTube Go, Gmail Go is very similar to the app from which it borrows. In fact, it looks like the main Gmail app and is used in terms of functionality - no smart replying, and no email snoozing, and no suggestions when you try a search.

You don't get a large search box at the top (it's on the backside of a magnifying glass), and you don't even get inline attachment previews. This is like a retreat for time before Gmail overhauls Android, but many accounts are supported, such as labels and categories and all Gmail basics.

Cutting out all of those new features means that the app is much lighter, and it's getting quicker (especially with a slower connection to the Internet). You can also compose messages and reply to emails offline, but then you can also do this in the main Gmail app (at least based on our quick tests).

Considering all of this, there is really no reason to install Gmail Go if you can use Gmail - it only cuts off a sufficient number of features for a benefit, which makes the app smaller and more lightweight is. Unless you're really struggling on older and slower Android devices, then stick to Gmail.


Mild Maps Go actually runs as a web app, although all the hints of the browser window are hidden. The major benefit of that approach is that the data is downloaded only when you need it - Google says Maps Go is almost 100 times smaller in terms of file size than the main Google Maps.

All the key features are here (like information on directions and locations), the interface is just more fragmented. The Explore tab (to find nearby places) and the For You tab (to recommend places for you) are gone, but you can still see the traffic, and the terrain, and the time of the next bus to your destination. Can.

Plot a route, and capture the navigation for Maps Go. It basically only focuses on the route, and tells you about the traffic, and is that you can't search for places, you can't see directions in advance, and you can see the progress of your journey with other people. Can not share. Recently added features such as speed reading are also missing. You will get it from A to B and about it

There's really no need to install Maps Go and Navigation for Maps Go, as long as you don't struggle for storage space on your phone or data connectivity until you run out and Google says that Both these apps are optimized to work on sporty connections. Full Google Maps has an offline feature that allows you to map tiles ahead of time, and we think this might be a better option for those who are moving to areas with crummy Internet.

Last but not least, the Google Go app, which covers all jobs similar to the main Google app - search the web, get weather forecasts, open web links in a native, built-in browser. Google says that search results are optimized to save "up to 40 percent" of the data and the app is definitely quick and slow based on our testing.

You don't get all those news box and video results in Google Go that you find in a regular Google app search, so if you want to get on the web faster, this is a good way to reduce clutter. An interesting feature is that if you want to relax your eyes then you will read the web page aloud. The app's front screen is not taken up with recommended articles either, although you can find them with one tap.

Unlike the cut-down results and reading feature, in fact the difference is only to render and codify the app in a minimal way, with bloat placed to a minimum and especially with special emphasis on basic navigation that is only a few taps Takes. It has less demand on your phone and every connection you have received is less demanding.

We are not sure if we are on your journey, even if you recommend using it on the main app, but you may be struggling to load the main Google app (or) your main web browser. Is - it will definitely help you get your results faster. And if you stick to the task of searching instead of offering personalized article suggestions to Google every day, it is also worth a look.