WebUser – 04 April 2018

WHATHAPPENEDTOANDROIDONE?

4-17April 2018 39

AndroidGo

DiscussAndroidGoatforum.webuser.co.uk

saver, whichlimitsbackgrounddata use
and savesupto60% of mobiledata.

CanIplayvideos,too?
Absolutely.Android Go comes with
YouTube Go,which has beenaround
since2016and is optimisedforslow
connectionsand limited data plans,
as well as phoneswith minimalstorage.
Userscan previewframes of avideo and
decideon the levelofstreaming(basic,
standardand high).It also tells youhow
muchdata eachvideowill use and lets
youdownloadcontent overWi-Fi to
watchofflinelater.
As with otherGo apps,YouTube Go is
small,takingup just9.4MBof space. You
can also sharevideoswith nearbyfriends
and family at super-fastspeedswithout
consumingdata.

ButcanIinstallotherapps?
Yes. Android Go provides easyaccess
to the GooglePlayapp store, but rather
thanfling openthe doorsto all 3.5 million
Android appscreatedsofar,itpointsyou
to aspecial
storefront that
highlightsapps
thathavebeen
optimised
to run on
entry-level
phones.By
concentrating
on appsthat
arelessthan
10MB,you’re
lesslikely
to install
aresource-
hungryand
potentially
unusableapp
thatwill ruin
your enjoyment
of the phone.

HowdoImanagetheamount

of dataIuse?

Android Go’snotificationspanellets you

monitor your data usage,while Google’s

newstorage-managementapp,Files Go

(bit.ly/fg440),helpsyoumaximisethe

amountof spaceavailableon your phone.

As well as findingfiles in double-quick

time,this lets yousee howmuch room

youhaveleft on your handsetand SD

card, transferringfiles off the phoneif

necessary.Italso makes lightwork of

deletingduplicate files,imagesand

unusedapps,and lets youclear your

cache.Files Go works on devices running

Android 5orlater,too –see our

Workshopin Issue 440 formoredetails.

Andis it secure?

Well, Googlesays it is. Thecompany

promisesthatentry-levelsmartphones

runningAndroid Go will have the

samekey securityfeatures as Android

Oreo phones.FindMy Deviceis

builtin, and eachinstallation is

scannedforpotentialproblems.

SohowdoIget AndroidGo?

Android Go is beingpreinstalledon new

budgetsmartphones.Six handsetshave

beenannounced so far, includingthe

Alcatel1X(bit.ly/alcatel446),the Nokia 1

(bit.ly/nokia446,see lastissue’sFirst

Look) and the ZTE TempoGo (bit.ly/

tempo446),eachof whichhas 1GB of

RAMand aquad-coreprocessor.The

othersareLava’sZ50,Micromax’sBharat

Go and General Mobile’sGM8Go. All

thesephoneshave lowspecifications:

the Nokia1comeswith just8GB of

storage (whichyoucan expandto 128GB

usingan SD card) and a5-megapixel rear

camera(2-megapixel front-facing).

Theprices arelow,too,rangingfrom

$80 (£58)to $100(£72), whichindicates

the sectionof the market Googleand the

manufacturers areaimingfor.

Is AndroidGoworthhaving?

Onlyif you’renot fussy aboutpower.

Ultimately,Android Go has beencreated

foruse in developingnationswhere

phoneuserssuffer slowand intermittent

connectivity,use lesspowerful devices

and have fewopportunitiesto recharge

the batteriesduringthe day. But Go

phoneswill be availableeverywhere,

so if youwant justabasic handsetor

you’reafter an entry-leveldevicefor

asmartphonenewbie,Android Go will

ensureitworks smoothly.

It’s hopedthatovertime more

developerswill followGoogle’sBuilding

forBillionsguidelines(bit.ly/billions446)

and create slimlineappsthatwork well

on this typeof phone.Ifyou ownatop-

of-the-rangeSamsungGalaxy, however,

we wouldn’trecommendinstalling

Android Go on it.

AndroidGo isn’tGoogle’s

firstattemptat creating

astreamlinedmobile

operatingsystemforlow-

cost,low-performance

phonesaimedat emerging

markets.In 2014, Sundar

Pichai,nowGoogle’sCEO,

launchedAndroidOne

(www.android.com/one),

aclose-to-stock version

of theOSthatwas

free of bloatware

andworked to

astrictlydefined

sanctionedby Googlewithout

anyinterferenceinthe hardware

designprocess. As Googlesays,it’s

“everythingyouwant”(meaninga

phonethatprovidesGoogle’skey

services)and “nothingyoudon’t”.

hardwarestandard.

TheOSwas considered to be Android

in its purestform,andallowedGoogle

to pushits ownsoftwareupdatesto

ensureuserscouldstay up to date with

newappsandservices. It guaranteed

access to theGooglePlayStore and

emphasisedspeedwhilepavingtheway

forthe “next billion”usersin theworld.

Thefocuschangedovertime,

however,and today, AndroidOneis

availableon high-endhandsetsfrom

manufacturersincludingNokia,HTC

andMotorola.Thegoalis simplyto

giveusersapureAndroidexperience

TheNokia1isamongthe firstsmartphones

to come withAndroid Go builtin

Youcan install appsthat
have beenoptimisedto
run on Android Go