YouTube announces 'YouTube Go' for next generation users

World's most popular online video community YouTube has announced a brand new app, YouTube Go, designed and built from insights gathered from India.

The new app is completely re-imagined from the ground up for the next generation of YouTube users to fully discover all that YouTube has to offer.

YouTube Go is result of extensive research done across 15 cities in India by teams of engineers, designers, and researchers collecting ideas and testing prototypes with hundreds of people. Over the next few months, YouTube will be rolling the app out gradually to more testers, getting their feedback and improving the product before launching it to the general public.

"We've always believed that connectivity should not be a barrier to watching YouTube. In 2014 we launched YouTube Offline so you could watch videos without suffering from buffering. A few months ago we rolled out Smart Offline, a feature that allows you to schedule videos to be saved offline later at off-peak times, when there's more bandwidth so data is faster and cheaper. But we realised that for the next generation of YouTube users to fully discover all that YouTube has to offer, we had to re-imagine the YouTube mobile app from the ground up," said YouTube Vice President for Product Management, Johanna Wright.

"With YouTube Go, we're bringing the power of video to mobile users in a way that is more conscious of their data and connectivity, while being relatable and social," she added.

It allows its users to save and watch videos smoothly even in poor connectivity. It will also give them transparency and control over how much data they consume on videos, allowing them to preview videos first and choose the video's file size before they save it offline to watch later.

Designed with four concepts in mind, the app is relatable, with videos and a user interface that is made for you. It is designed to be offline first and work even when there's low or no connectivity.

It's also cost-effective, tackling the cost of data usage and giving users more transparency about how big downloads and file sizes will be. And finally, it's a social experience, connecting you with the people and content you care about.

Amongst a few notable features, the app includes find and discover relatable videos right on the home screen, preview videos before you save or watch, choose your resolution when saving or streaming videos, amongst others.

YouTube Go will gradually roll out to more people over the next few months, getting their feedback and improving the product before launching it widely.