Gone are the days when getting a lite app was the best option for smartphone users, due to limitations in memory and internet speeds. Several companies, including Google itself, launched “Go” and “Lite” branded applications of their main services and apps to provide lightweight software for smartphones that didn’t have as much power and high-end components. The Go and Lite branded apps were aimed at low-end devices. They especially targeted developing countries where the internet was still relatively new, and not as widely accessible as it is today.
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In a recent blog post, Google announced that it will shut down YouTuge Go in August. The post recommends users switch over to the official YouTube app, claiming that it provides a “better overall user experience as well as offers features that aren’t available in the youTube Go” app.
YouTube Go launched in 2016, and it was designed to provide easy access on slower internet connections, and it was primarily targeting low-end devices to provide an equally great experience as the desktop or primary YouTube application. Google also promises that it will build “additional user controls that help to decrease mobile data usage for viewers with limited data.”
Faster data speeds
Google also recently shut down the Chrome Lite mode feature, which allowed users to save internet in a world where data was expensive. The Google Chrome Lite feature became redundant over the years as the 3G HSPA, 4G, and now 5G data plans become more affordable, faster, and widely available in developed regions. Google found that it wasn’t being used by most users, and if it was, it didn’t provide the benefits that it once did.
Facebook also killed off its slimmed-down Facebook Lite application (via MacRumors), which allowed users to access the social media giant even on 2G networks and in rural areas with bad connections. The application was barebones, and it offered most of the essential features of the main app. The Facebook Lite app launched in 2018 alongside Messenger Lite, and Facebook Lite shut it down in 2020. The Messenger Lite application, on the other hand, is still popular and actively maintained today by Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
Smarter budget phones
Way back, most low and medium-range smartphones had anywhere between 1-3GB of RAM, and some even launched with 512MB. At the time such phones were everything but a powerhouse, and it greatly benefitted from lightweight applications due to the small amount of memory and storage.
Fast forward a few years, we now have budget phone with 3-6GB of memory, depending on the model you pick, and most of these are also running the full-fledged version of Android. Smartphone hardware has dramatically improved in recent years. Even low-end devices are getting performance updates that make them a more viable option for multitasking and even some light gaming. The mid-range category has also greatly improved, and we now also have a premium mid-range category, which includes smartphones with high-end flagship features at a lower, more affordable price tag.
More optimized software
Finally we come to software, Android has received several performance improvements over the years, and it’s gotten so smooth and optimized that it can run on low-grade hardware just as fine as on flagship-level components. Applications have also received several updates over the years, and the APIs and new tools have been developed to focus on optimization and efficiency.
