Google Takes Another Swing at Reviving Cheap Android Phones

Google is making another go at getting cheap Android phones to support its latest software, an attempt to lock more consumers in the developing world into the internet giant’s services, according to Bloomberg.

The new program, called Android Go, was announced at the I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California. It bakes features directly into Google’s mobile operating system that are designed specifically for cheap phones, including software to manage cellular data costs. The service will launch in 2018.

India has more active Android users than the U.S., Sameer Samat, a Google executive, said on stage. But in countries like this, the high cost of mobile data is a major barrier to consumers buying smartphones and using Google services. Android Go has a feature that more easily tracks mobile data usage and ties automatically with the billing systems of wireless carriers, Samat said. Google also designed the service to minimize data usage on bandwidth-hungry services like YouTube.

Android Go will only be available on phones that run Google’s upcoming software version, available next year. So far, most manufacturers have avoided shipping the latest Android on cheap phones to save costs. But Samat said the changes coming with Android Go will convince the hardware partners to change course. The new software is designed to run versions of Google apps that require less data. Samat mentioned YouTube as one app, but declined to name others. Google will also be curating a list of apps in its digital store that are designed for light data usage.

On stage, Samat demonstrated a novel way for Android users to track their mobile data usage and even pay their monthly or pre-paid mobile-phone bills via Google Play. Google has set up carrier billing options in its Play store in 55 countries with 140 telecom partners. The company doesn’t disclose its Play store sales. Samat declined to share any carrier or manufacturing partners Google has with Android Go.