Google announced Android Go at the I/O 2017 and towards the end of the year, the platform’s first edition, Android 8.1 Oreo Go edition, was made official. To say the least, this release was not great, but it’s nothing new when it comes to most software’s first releases.
On the brighter side, there’s always room to improve and in the latest edition of Android Go that is based on Android 9 Pie, Google says users will be getting an OS that boasts massive storage improvements as the major highlight feature, but of course, there’s more.
In addition to bundling all the cool features of Android Pie in the update, among them gestures, adaptive brightness, updated emoji, and some UI improvements, the Go edition of Pie also focuses on improving the amount of reserved storage, where Google says Pie Go edition will leave you with 500MB of extra storage compared to what Oreo leaves you with. This is a pretty much welcome addition considering that the OS is meant for devices with 8GB or even 4GB of internal storage and with such storage amounts, every MB is precious.
Related: The best Android Go phones so far
Google also says the new Android Pie Go edition will be better at tracking and monitoring data consumption, something that is quite sensitive in markets the platform is targeting. However, the lack of better explanation means that we can’t tell whether it’s better than the app usage data we’ve gotten used to seeing in stock Android over the years.
Like the full-blown version, devices running Android Pie Go edition are not expected until this fall and according to the search giant, more than 100 manufacturers have already signed up to release devices powered by Pie Go edition by the end of 2018. This will add to the over 200 devices that are already on the market powered by the first release of Android Go – devices that Google says cost from as little as $30 in more than 120 countries across the globe.
