It’s built to be run by the crappiest of hardware

Along with an optimized version of their search software for phones, Google has also revealed more details about Android Go yesterday. Android Go is seen to be many as the replacement for Google’s Android One Iniative that failed to take steam when it was launched a few years ago, and looks to do the same thing: build a version of Android that will power entry-level devices with less than stellar specs.

Android Oreo (Go Edition) launches today along with Android 8.1, and provides devices with 512MB to 1GB of memory with better performance through efficient file management and optimizations. For one thing, devices with Android Oreo (Go Edition) will have more storage, as the OS and pre-installed Google apps now take up 50 percent less space, which is huge when you’re rocking a phone that only has 8GB of ROM.

Android Oreo (Go Edition) powered phones will also have Google’s data saver features turned on by default, and Google Play will tell you at the start if the app you’re trying to download will work well with your phone. The Go edition of Android will also come with a set of optimized, Google apps like Google Go, as well as Google Assistant Go, YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, Gmail Go, Gboard, Google Play, Chrome, and the new Files Go app by Google.

Google says that Android Oreo (Go Edition) powered phones will be announced by their partners by the beginning of next year.