Google has just launched the YouTube Go app in South Africa, and binge-watchers across the country should be rejoicing. The YouTube Go app is lighter on system resources, and most importantly, far less data-hungry than its big brother, meaning that you can watch much more video for much less data.
The developers say that the YouTube Go app has been built with an ‘offline first’ philosophy to ensure that it always works, even in areas with little to no connectivity. Videos can be easily downloaded for offline viewing, and to reduce data consumption even further, you can select the video resolution from the lowest to highest quality when streaming or downloading.
Google Africa Chief Marketing Officer Mzamo Masito said, “People in South Africa love YouTube, but the current app is too data-heavy for it to be usable to most viewers, who don’t have high speed and large capacity data plans, or free Wifi. Now, the app is much lighter and nimbler, and you won’t have to wait for videos to load or buffer forever.”
The app features a “social” component, with the home screen sporting a simpler interface that displays videos that are trending or popular with people near you. It also offers the ability to share videos with friends through wireless transfers that don’t use any data.
The app isn’t available for iOS devices yet, but if you have an Android phone, head over to the Google Play Store to download YouTube Go right now.
