In 2017 Google removed Android Go, a lightweight version of Android for less powerful mobiles. Since then Google has been creating lightweight Go versions of several of its applications designed for these same mobiles, although many of them you can use on any terminal, be it Android Go or not.
If your mobile does not have a lot of power or storage space, or you simply prefer light applications, Google’s Go applications are something like the Google ecosystem in miniature. These are all the Google Go applications that you can install on an Android mobile nowadays.
Google go
Over time, the official Google application has become a bit heavy, and Google Go is an interesting alternative. This application is something like the Google application without mixing with Google Assistant, with links for all kinds of searches and an application and website launcher.
Google Go stands out for having a fairly well designed and colorful interface to be a Go application, complemented with animations to give it more eye-catching. You will find in it links to launch Google Lens (via the camera app), integrates a incognito mode, time and Discover (called Discover).
Google go
Gmail go
Gmail Go is the lightweight version of Gmail, taking up approximately 50 MB of internal storage (not counting the data) instead of the 80 MB that the official version is in today. It is not a huge reduction in size, although in exchange we have a kind of basic Gmail, without additions.
If you miss Gmail from a few years ago, without the latest inventions and additions, that’s basically Gmail Go. The appearance is very similar to normal Gmail and in a way it can do the same. Although it is listed on Google Play, it is not open to all devices, although you can install it from its APK.
Gmail go
Google Maps Go
Considering that Google Maps Go literally occupies 219 kb of storage, it is clear that it is not really an application, but a launcher for the progressive web application of Gmail, executed under Google Chrome.
Regardless of the technology behind it, Google Maps Go allows you to consult maps, search routes from one point to another and even consult Google Street View. In practice, it is something like removing the latest extras from Google Maps to leave it in the essentials.
Google Maps Go: routes, traffic and transportation
Go navigation
Something you can’t do with Google Maps Go is follow a route in real time. For this you need Navigation for Google Maps Go, a separate application that is available to anyone on Google Play.
Navigation for Go cannot be used by itself, but you must find the route in Maps Go and then choose See in the app, which will show you the route in Navigation for Google Maps Go. This navigation is functional, although with hardly any additional option unlike the one included in the normal version of Google Maps.
Navigation for Google Maps Go
Camera go
Camera Go is the latest Go app to launch, but also one of the most promising. Basically it’s kind of like a miniature GCam, despite the fact that the results are much more modest than in the normal version of the Google camera.
With Camera Go you have a simple camera application with translator and portrait mode signed by Google, potentially for almost any Android mobile, unlike the normal version. The application is not available on Google Play at the moment, but you can install it from its APK.
Camera go
- Developer: Google
- Download it at: Sourceforge
- Price: Free
- Category: Photography
Gallery Go
Google has chosen Google Photos as the Android gallery app. It is a great application to do many things, although it can be great if you only want to manage your mobile photos. Gallery Go is somewhat more like Android gallery apps from a few years ago.
Gallery Go has a nice interface and that gives all the prominence to the photos and folders you have on your mobile, without putting the photos in the cloud in the mix. The application works reasonably well, has no advertising and occupies about 32 MB, which is little today.
Gallery Go from Google Photos
YouTube Go
While the official YouTube application for Android takes up about 125 MB of space today, YouTube Go barely exceeds 30 Mb. It is therefore considerably lighter and also allows you to download videos to see them offline.
YouTube Go is YouTube in its simplest form. You can watch videos, download them at different levels of quality to watch them later and little else. YouTube Go is available on Google Play in some countries. In the rest it can be installed from its APK.
YouTube Go
- Developer: Google LLC
- Download it at: Google play
- Price: Free
- Category: Video players and editors