Google has announced the Android 13 Go Edition for ultra-affordable phones. Well, the best part about Android 13 Go Edition is that it brings a lot of new features for users along with the popular Material You design language to budget phones. Material You means you can apply color themes that reflect your wallpaper, even on a budget phone.
Although it will only give you 4 color schemes to choose from (instead of 16 in the full version of Android), it is better to have something than nothing. In the official blog, Google showed the application of the Material You theme on the lock screen and quick settings. Even though Material You has been available since Android 12, last year's Go Edition skipped it to include other important features. At last, it is finally here.
You are taken to the Google Discover feed when you swipe on the home screen. Here, users will be able to view curated articles and other feeds. A bunch of other features are also available on the full version. This includes notification permissions and per-app language preferences.
Android 13 Go Edition phones will be available in 2023
The Android 13 Go Edition also brings support for Google Play System Updates. This feature is important as it will ensure that even your budget phones receive updates regularly and receive important software updates via the Play Store outside of the Android firmware updates.
Google notes that “this will not compromise storage available on the device,” which is nice considering it is meant for budget phones that don't have huge storage options.
However, there is one requirement that a budget phone should meet in order to be able to receive Android 13 Go Edition. Google requires at least 2GB of RAM for Android Go hardware, which shouldn't be a problem, as even budget phones have 4GB RAM these days. Android Go is currently installed on over 250 million devices, and Google anticipates that Android 13 Go will be available on devices in 2023.
