YouTube Go: In a post on its official blog, YouTube announced a new app with innovative features that could work offline and provide cost-effective services. YouTube Go is essentially a version of the main YouTube app, but it tries not to charge the user's mobile phone bill with data while watching videos.
The blog post states that YouTube engineers, designers, and researchers found that there was a need for a more efficient version of YouTube, especially in countries like India, where mobile data is not cheap and videos have trouble streaming smoothly, especially during peak hours.
The YouTube team traveled to India to brainstorm ideas and test their prototypes with people from 15 cities. The new app is supposed to be faster than the previous YouTube app.
The team developed YouTube Go from the ground up, striving to provide users with easy video streaming and an interface that makes it very easy to navigate.
It can work with low or no connectivity, likely incorporating a smart connection feature that allows users to schedule a video to be saved for offline viewing later. The app is expected to be more cost-effective and reduce data usage.
Another feature will allow users to share videos with friends without using data. This means users will be able to send and receive videos even when they are offline.
YouTube said the app will roll out gradually over the coming months, with the goal of improving its features based on user feedback. It will be widely available early next year, and interested parties can sign up to be notified when it begins rolling out.
