Google is releasing Android 8.1 to supported devices tomorrow, and alongside that, the company will also release a new Android Oreo (Go Edition) for budget smartphones.
The Go Edition is a light version of Android Oreo that can run smoothly, without taking up too much space, on low-end budget smartphones. The software was originally announced at Google I/O earlier this year, and tomorrow, manufacturers and developers will be able to check it out.
Android smartphones that feature a low-end processor, up to 1GB of RAM, and, say, 8GB of storage or less, are the target devices under the Android Go program, whose first ever edition comes in the of Android Oreo Go Edition. Most OEMs will only release Oreo update for high-end and mid-range smartphones. With the Go Edition, even low-end phones can join the party.
According to Google, the Android Oreo (Go Edition) is all about better performance on not-so-powerful CPUs with lesser demands from system and apps as regards storage and RAM, while also keep security at the best. This makes apps on the OS smaller in size, up to 50% (Google Apps only, we’d say) while also making system use much less storage, and overall improving the app launch times by 15 percent.
Almost all of the core Google apps, such as Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Chrome, etc, would have a Go edition which also help in reducing data usage and keeping things fast and smooth. In Chrome and YouTube, the data-saving feature makes sure that everything passes through a Google server where the file sizes are reduced.
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Google has also released a new Google Go app, which is a lighter version of the Search app, and this will also help improve data saving. All in all, Google would give Android Oreo Go Edition these apps in their lite version: Google Go, Google Assistant Go, YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, Gmail Go, Gboard, Google Play, Chrome, and the new Files Go.
In the Play Store, Google has also included the Play Protect service to make sure you don’t install any malicious apps. A new section also recommends the best apps for the Go Edition of Oreo, which are optimized to run smoothly on the OS.
As security is a big part of the Android Oreo (Go Edition), latest security updates will be released timely. However, that part is still in the hands of the manufacturers. Starting tomorrow, OEMs and manufacturers will be able to download and implement the Oreo Go Edition on their devices.
Soon, you should be seeing new low-end phones running Android Oreo (Go Edition) being released.
