Android Go: A lighter version of Android for cheap phones

During Google I/O keynote address, they announced a light-weight version of Android O called Android Go designed for cheap and low-spec devices.

We've seen this type of initiative from Google before in the form of Android One though that didn't see much success in terms of sales but it looks like they're hoping to achieve better with this new OS.

Android Go is designed to run on devices with 1GB RAM or less and any device running Android O with a RAM of 1GB will automatically get Android Go. Not only that, the Play Store will now be optimized to highlight apps designed for cheap and low-end phones.

These apps should be able to work well on devices with little or no internet connectivity and support devices with not-so-great memories.

An example is the YouTube Go app. It's an optimized version of YouTube designed for users with limited internet connectivity. There's a new feature in it that allows you to preview a video before watching it. You can also select the quality of a video before watching it; something that was only available to YouTube Red subscribers.

The Play Store will majorly feature apps design for low data consumption and you'll even be able to see data usage directly from the notifications panel.

In the future every Android device will come with a Go variant and hopefully you might be able to switch between the two OS' (though impractical).
Google hasn't announced any hardware partners yet and are planning a 2018 release for Android Go specifically in developing countries.