Google on Tuesday rolled out a specially designed YouTube application to make it easier for its Indian users to watch videos in areas with poor internet connectivity. The beta version of YouTube Go has gone live on Google Play, while the app will later be made available to a wider audience next year.
“...the app is designed to be offline first and improve the experience of watching videos on a slower network,” Google said in a statement. It was slated to be launched last year, however, performing extensive tests took longer than expected.
YouTube Go will allow users to preview videos before they choose to watch the content to save data spent. Moreover, users can share videos among themselves using the app while on Wi-Fi. This feature is not available on the main YouTube app.
YouTube Go’s home screen will have popular trending videos based on the user’s location. A user can also choose the resolution when saving or streaming videos to control the amount of data spent on watching a clip.
Video consumption in India has increased rapidly after Reliance Jio introduced cheap data plans, reported Reuters. “As we talked to people in the market, they didn’t want something that felt like a stripped down version of YouTube – they wanted the full experience,” vice president of engineering at YouTube, John Harding said.
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