There are still many parts of the world where fast and stable internet aren’t widely available. This is why despite everything being connected these days, there is still need for considering markets where connectivity could be limited. We’ve seen companies like Facebook create “Lite” versions of its app to make it easier for users with slow internet connections.
Google themselves have also explored the idea of an offline voice recognition system where it could potentially be used in similar markets. Now recently over in the Philippines, YouTube has launched an Accelerator program in which it basically streams cached videos to users for faster viewing, as opposed to having to wait for videos to load.
These cached videos can only be accessed when connected to certain hotspots, which right now there are 12 locations located throughout the Philippines. Also not every YouTube video will be available. Instead the Accelerator will only host 100,000 of the most viewed YouTube videos in the country, so if you’re looking for something a bit more obscure, then you might be out of luck.
Users will also be able to spot a YouTube Accelerator video in the app/web as it will have a teal Accelerator badge next to it. At the moment the program appears to be limited to the Philippines and there is no word on whether YouTube has plans to expand to other markets.
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