Android Go
Variant of the Android operating system for low-end devices
Android Go, officially Android (Go edition), is a stripped-down version of the Android operating system, designed for low-end and ultra-budget smartphones (but also used by some tablets). It is intended for smartphones with 4 GB of RAM or lower and was first made available with the release of Android Oreo.
The first phone pre-installed with Android Go is the Alcatel 1X, which was released in February 2018.
01Features
Android Go has platform optimizations designed to reduce mobile data usage (including enabling Data Saver mode in Google Chrome by default), and a special suite of Google Mobile Services designed to be less resource- and bandwidth-intensive. The Google Play Services package was also modularized to reduce its memory footprint. The Google Play Store will highlight lighter apps suited for these devices.
The operating system's interface differs from that of stock Android, with the quick-settings panel giving greater prominence to information regarding the battery, mobile-data limit, and available storage; the recent apps menu uses a modified layout and is limited to four apps (in order to reduce RAM consumption), and an API for allowing mobile carriers to implement data-tracking and top-ups within the Android settings menu. Some system services, such as notification access, split screen, and picture-in-picture mode, are disabled to improve performance.
Most devices running Android Go use Google's "stock" Android GUI, although several manufacturers still use a customized GUI.
02Versions
| Version | Android version numbers |
Minimum RAM required |
Android Go release date |
Android release date |
Days after release |
End of support |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 Oreo (Go edition) | Unsupported: 8.1 | 512 MB | December 5, 2017 | December 5, 2017 | 0 | October 4, 2021 | |
| 9 Pie (Go edition) | Unsupported: 9 | August 15, 2018 | August 6, 2018 | 9 | March 7, 2022 | ||
| 10 (Go edition) | Unsupported: 10 | September 25, 2019 | September 3, 2019 | 22 | March 6, 2023 | ||
| 11 (Go edition) | Unsupported: 11 | 1 GB | September 10, 2020 | September 8, 2020 | 2 | March 27, 2024 | |
| 12 (Go edition) | Unsupported: 12 | December 14, 2021 | October 4, 2021 | 71 | March 31, 2025 | ||
| 13 (Go edition) | Unsupported: 13 | 2 GB | October 19, 2022 | August 15, 2022 | 65 | March 2, 2026 | |
| 14 (Go edition) | Supported: 14 | December 15, 2023 | October 4, 2023 | 72 | Current | ||
| 15 (Go edition) | Supported: 15 | March 21, 2025 | September 3, 2024 | 199 | |||
| 16 (Go edition) | Latest version: 16 | October 28, 2025 | June 10, 2025 | 140 | |||
| Legend: Unsupported Supported Latest version Preview version Future version | |||||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Android Go”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Android Go edition logo (New).png by Google, Public domain
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