Google Launches Android Go Oreo Edition For Budget Smartphones

Google has launched a version of Android 8.0 Oreo which is best suited for Android phones with 1GB of RAM or less.

At the Google I/O event in May 2017, Google promised to launch a custom version of Android tailor-made for lower-end devices. On the 5th of December, Android Go (Oreo edition) was officially launched and made available to smartphone manufacturers and developers.

As Google said, the idea behind Android Go is to create a version of Android software which is designed to run better on phones with either 512MB or 1GB of RAM. In the world of OnePlus 5T with its 8GB of RAM or Galaxy Note8’s 6GB RAM, it is easy to forget that there are lower-end smartphones currently available in the market which have 1GB of RAM or less.

Recently, the Nokia 2 launched in India at a price of Rs. 6999 with 1GB of RAM and running Android 7.1 Nougat. Android Go’s launch means that HMD Global will be able to push out an Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Nokia 2 faster since the build is already optimised for phones with such specifications.

Nokia 2

Google has claimed that Android Go’s Oreo edition will be a variant of Android Oreo that a manufacturer can just set by ticking off a configuration flag. What this basically does is that it sets up the phone to use the “Go” versions of a handful of Google apps such as the main Google app, Google Assistant, Google Maps, Gmail, and others. Google claims that the smaller apps and slimmer OS can as much as halve the amount of storage that’s taken up by default on a new phone running default OS.

Google will also introduce a few other data saving features on Android Go. For example, in Chrome, everything will get run through a Google server that reduces file sizes before it gets delivered to the user’s phone. The new Datally app will also be pre-installed to keep a track of cellular data.

Considering India’s budget smartphone segment, it might be one of the first few countries to receive Android Go.