The connectivity problem in Africa has been going on for a long time now. But no one has offered any solution to the problems related to this, and nor have they tried to solve it. But Google has taken the initiative to help solve the poor connectivity and the high cost of data in Africa. Google is releasing an app in Africa that will either ease or completely solve the problem. Google has said in a blog post that the app named Google Go will reduce the amount of data needed to display search results by 40 percent and allows previous searches to be accessed offline.
The search giant has also revealed that they have updated the Voice search app to work better on slow connections, even on a 2G data connections. The app will operate on old devices such as mobile phones running on Android v4.3 (Jelly Bean) and will be pre-installed on all Android Oreo (Go edition) devices. The Google Go app will be available in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Google Go provides a lighter, faster way to search. More and more Africans are coming online every year, using mobile phones as their primary and sometimes only internet device. But weak data connectivity, high data costs and low RAM or storage space often make it hard for people to get the most out of the internet. – Christina Lin, Facebook products marketing manager for sub-Saharan Africa
Keeping all of these problems in mind, Google has offered a solution. Previously, Facebook has already rolled out several initiatives to bring low-cost and free broadband services to remote and hard-to-reach areas. Google has followed in its footsteps by announcing the release of Google Go in the Saharan continent. It is also an effort on Google’s part to extend its services. This is not the only initiative taken by Google. To make the people of sub-Saharan Africa more employable, the social networking giant planned to teach 10 million people their online skills over the next five years.