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Lightweight Google Go now available worldwide

The Android app includes Lens and page-reading features.

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Rae Hodge Former senior editor
Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET's coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.
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Rae Hodge
google-go

Google Go has all the critical functions of the regular Google app, at a fraction of the file size.

 Google

Google's lightweight Google Go app will now be available globally, Google said Tuesday. At 7MB, the app is a much smaller version of the traditional Google app. It also offers versions of new Google features like Lens and an out-loud page-reader.

"Earlier this year at I/O, we showcased Lens in Google Go, a way for you to read, translate and search the words you see by using your camera," Google Go Product Manager Bibo Xu wrote in a blog post. "When you find text you'd like help with, open Lens and point your camera at it to hear the words read out loud to you, translate them, or both." 

The app is aimed at people who have to deal with an unreliable internet connection or who want to use less storage on their devices. Originally launched in 2017 as Android Go, the app came paired with several other lightweight apps designed with a nod toward developing countries. 

Google Go also offers an AI-powered read-aloud feature that lets users listen to any web page, Xu said. 

Google Go can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. 

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