Seven months after they first announced an upcoming project called YouTube Go, the app is finally beta testing itself in India. The data-friendly new version of the video-sharing app was especially built for places like the South Asian country where people are digitally savvy and yet connectivity is such a huge problem. The beta version can be downloaded by anyone through the Google Play Store and Google is encouraging feedback from those who will do so.
Some of the main features of this app include having a home screen where you will be able to see videos that are popular or trending in your area. It wants to be relevant to the user and their community so they can discover videos that are relevant to where they are. You will also be able to share videos to your friends or family members that are nearby without having to use any of your data. Videos can be sent and received and offline if both or all of you have the YouTube Go app.
And since the app is being bannered as a data-saving one, before you spend any of your data on the videos, you can see a preview of the video when you tap the thumbnail so you can decide if it’s something really worth watching. And if you do decide to watch it, you can choose the resolution and the amount of data you want to use whether you’re streaming it or saving it for later. This part is pretty important for users in India who mostly rely on WiFi or 2G speeds on their mobile data.
There is no news yet if YouTube Go will actually be available in other markets if it proves to be successful in India. But if you do live there, you can try out the beta version of the app which you can get on Google Play Store.
SOURCE: YouTube
