YouTube Go was first announced all the way back in 2016, with the beta version arriving on our shores a year later. It is a lightweight version of the app that was made with entry-level devices and low internet connectivity in mind. But the video platform has announced that it is sunsetting the lightweight version of the app later this year, in August specifically.
As explained in a support page, the sunsetting of YouTube Go app is due to improvements to the main app and its interaction with entry-level devices and slower networks. At the same time, the main mobile app still provides “a better user experience” than the lightweight version of the app. Which is understandable, as the Go version of the app lacks some pretty basic functionalities, like the ability to post comments or use the dark theme.
All this implies that the Go version of the app has been rendered obsolete with the improvements on the main app. If you’ve been a user of YouTube Go, the video platform is suggesting that you either use the main app, or sign in from a browser.
Whether it’s due to phones just being better across the board than before or the YouTube app really being so much better optimised, it’s a good thing that a Go version of the app is no longer needed. But as 9to5Google notes, this could also be a sign for what’s to come for the Go editions of Android itself.
(Source: Google via 9to5Google)
