Havana Cuba. — YouTube Gothe cheapest alternative for Cubans when it comes to consuming videos, stopped working in August 2022 after being left without support from Google, which has forced Internet users on the island to look for other options.
As a result of the event, the American multinational explained that “the official YouTube application has improved its performance both for slow networks and for less powerful mobile phones, in addition to having more functions that were not present in the Go version, such as the comments”.
Eduardo Gómez, a young computer scientist living in the Mayabeque province, commented to CubaNet that YouTube Go was a very useful application for Cubans, since it “allowed you to download videos at low resolutions, saving data and connection time.”
“In this way, the contents were stored on the devices and could be viewed later offline. Many Cubans used this version of YouTube, which was lightweight and very useful,” said the interviewee.
Despite the fact that YouTube Go stopped working, for Gómez all does not seem lost.
“We have fundamentally migrated to two similar applications that allow you to download YouTube at low resolutions to save data and view the content later offline, something very necessary in Cuba. These applications are NewPipe and VidMate”, added the computer scientist.
Ernesto explained that NewPipe “does not use Google libraries, it only analyzes the website to obtain the information it needs.”
“This application can be used on devices that do not have Google services installed. In addition, you do not need a YouTube account to view content,” said the young man.
Although there are other alternatives to YouTube Go, such as Snaptube or SkyTube, VidMate has also become popular in Cuba, despite not being available in digital stores.
“In the case of VidMate, I can tell you that it is totally safe, although it is not available in the official application store because it allows you to download videos from sites like YouTube. In addition, it helps to obtain and install applications on your terminal —both actions contravene Google’s terms and conditions— and it is free of malware”, commented to CubaNetRaydel González, owner of a mobile repair shop in Havana.
“Right now thousands of Cubans use it as an alternative to the defunct YouTube Go. After my workshop, after the month of August of last year, many came looking for options, since saving data in Cuba is essential. We always give alternatives so that the client chooses which application we install for him”, added the entrepreneur.
Rubén Abreu, a user who has used NewPipe since the YouTube Go crash, said he uses the application to keep up with the content that appears on YouTube.
“YouTube is one of the most visited sites by Cubans, although it is no secret to anyone that ETECSA’s data plans are a robbery and that ordinary Cubans cannot afford to spend 700 megabytes in a few minutes of video. We follow many Youtubers who show the reality we are living. So with NewPipe we stay informed and, at the same time, we encourage data savings.”
YouTube, the most popular video site on the Internet, was created in February 2005 and acquired by Google in 2006. Today the platform is the second largest search engine in the world and the third most visited site after Google and Facebook.
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