YouTube Go App Launches For Bandwidth-Hungry Viewers In Indonesia

Many of Indonesia‘s 263 million residents love watching YouTube, and those viewers just gained access to a valuable tool. The world’s top video site has launched YouTube Go, an app designed for users with limited bandwidth, in Southeast Asia’s most populous nation.

YouTube Go makes use of the video site’s offline viewing feature, which has been available in Indonesia since 2014. The app assists data-strapped internet users by allowing them to set data caps, preview clips, and coordinate downloads so that they occur during times when more bandwidth is available. So far, YouTube Go has come to India and Nigeria, and with its arrival in Indonesia, it has become clear that YouTube is aiming the app at developing nations with large online video audiences.

The announcement of YouTube Go’s arrival in

the world’s largest archipelagic state came at an event called “Google for Indonesia,” according to Engadget. Other news shared at that gathering included a localized update for the Google Assistant service.

Indonesians have proven themselves to be among the most passionate YouTube viewers in the world. A recent study from research firm JakPat revealed that 89% of the nation’s internet-connected citizens use YouTube. One of those users is Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, who launched his own channel after his son introduced him to the video site’s colorful community. President Jokowi, as he is colloquially known, probably has a pretty good internet connection in Jakarta’s Merdeka Palace, but for any of his constituents with spotty connections, YouTube Go will be quite useful.