We’re quite the fans of Google Go, which provides a less data intensive way to search. Now the company is doing something similar with the launch of YouTube Go in South Africa. According to Google, YouTube Go has been built from the ground up with an ‘offline first’ philosophy so that it works even when there’s low or no connectivity.

Users can save videos for offline watching, and can choose what resolution video to store - low quality or standard quality - giving them better control over how they use precious data. Unlike in the main YouTube app, users can choose what resolution to stream videos in - low or standard.

Interestingly, YouTube Go lets one wirelessly transfer videos to nearby devices, without using any data, a feature we can see being popular locally.

Google notes YouTube Go provides transparency in how users are using their data, allowing them to reduce their data consumption., while also providing a preview video function to make it easier for users to decide what they want to watch.

“With YouTube Go, we want to make it possible for everyone in South Africa to be able to discover and share videos that they love regardless of their data consumption preference,” says Google Africa chief marketing officer Mzamo Masito. “We understand the unique challenges - connectivity, cost and social models - faced by South Africans and users in other emerging economies. YouTube Go was created on the back on our understanding of these issues.”

YouTube Go is available for download in the Google Play store and will come pre-installed on all Android 8.1 (Go Edition) phones. It’s a 10 MB download.