YouTube Go turns YouTube into offline video portal

Google’s latest app YouTube Go, aims to make it easier for those with limited connectivity to watch videos offline.

YouTube Go will initially launch in India, and according to the company, its team has travelled the country to better understand its peoples’ requirements.

But while the app will head to the Asian subcontinent first, the advantages for Africa and other data-stretched lands are clear to see.

YouTube Go will allow users to save videos for offline viewing, while allowing them to choose the video quality and file size. It effectively means that YouTube is now a portable, offline video repository.

YouTube Go is Google’s latest attempt at bringing the internet’s slew of videos to bandwidth-strapped consumers

According to YouTube, it’s more than just another app. At the core of the app’s design ethos are four concepts, relatability, offline capabilities, affordable and lastly it is a social experience, allowing users to connect with the people and content users care about.

The Google-owned video service faces numerous challenges in developing nations as video files are getting larger and more dense. Go is its latest attempt to combat this.

While this might be the company’s first standalone offline app, this is not YouTube’s first attempt at assisting bandwidth-strapped viewers. In 2014 the company launched YouTube Offline playback., which allowed users to buffer entire videos for later playback.

Though there is no news of when the app is launching in other market, Android users in India can sign up here to test the app once its available.