Google Go now available in South Africa

If the standard Google app is proving too bloated for your device, the company has today made its lightweight Google Go app available in South Africa, and other African territories.

Google’s Go apps — much like Facebook Lite and Twitter Lite — require less storage space on device and can function more efficiently on slower networks.

Although Google Go has been available on Android Go devices for a while across the world, from today anyone can download the app for standard Android versions newer than 4.3 Jelly Bean.

“Users come to us to experience the web and access accurate information quickly. Unfortunately users can’t always decide on the type of device they have or the kind of connection they are on,” explains Mzamo Masito, Google Africa’s CMO.

“Google Go is designed from the ground up to address these issues and provide a seamless experience irrespective of what device or network the user is on.”

Google claims that app uses 40% less data when searching than the standard Google app, and weighs in at less than 5MB in total storage.

The app can now be downloaded from the Google Play Store in 26 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.