Android 13 became official back in August this year, and now it’s time for the budget-friendly version to break cover. Google is now unveiling Android 13 Go edition, which, as most of you may already know, is a lighter version of the OS built for low-end phones.
Go editions of Android started five years ago and there are more than 250 million monthly active smartphones currently running on the OS. Most of these devices have low-end chipsets, limited RAM, and a small amount of storage.
Google says that Android 13 Go is all about reliability, usability, and customization. It will enable Google Play System Updates for the first time on budget devices, allowing them to receive important updates outside of major OS updates.
Google Discover feed, which is found on the left of your home screen on most Android skins, is finally arriving in Go edition. It focuses on delivering personalized news articles, but it can also show you the weather and more. The Material You design that has been exclusive to non-Go devices is also making a debut on the budget side with the latest release.
The Material You design, which debuted with Android 12 on most phones, lets you customize the entire color scheme of your phone based on your wallpapers. It is able to use Google’s Monet engine to automatically pick the primary colors of your wallpapers and theme your phone accordingly. However, it is not automatic, so you have to choose between four different color palettes picked from your wallpaper.
Some other key features are landing with Android 13 Go as well including notification permissions and app language preferences. Google says new devices running on Android 13 Go should be available in 2023. It is unclear when current generation devices will start updating to the new Go version.
