Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube Premium Lite removes most ads for $7.99 a month, but has lacked other Premium features.
- Google is now bringing background play and downloads to Premium Lite subscribers.
- Access begins today, and should hit everyone eligible within a few weeks.
YouTube has something for everyone, and its bottomless well of content makes paying for an ad-free Premium experience one of the smartest decisions you can make in streaming today. If you were on the fence about paying for full-price Premium, a couple years ago Google started promoting YouTube Premium Lite as an option for paying to remove ads, but without all of Premium’s extra perks. Last March, Premium Lite expanded to the US for just $7.99 a month, and as we come up on that anniversary, Google shares how it’s making Lite even better.
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With YouTube Premium, in addition to ad-free playback users got access to features like background playback, downloads for offline viewing, premium controls, and ad-free access to YouTube Music. Premium Lite removed most ads, but didn’t offer all those extras.
Google now shares that it’s extending background play and downloads to YouTube Premium Lite subscribers, as well.
Premium Lite subscribers around the world will start getting access to that functionality beginning today, although it may take a few weeks to hit everyone.
With all this becoming available now, what’s even the point of paying for full Premium? Well, Lite subscribers will still get ads on music-related content, like music videos. They also miss out on Premium playback features like Jump Ahead to quickly get to the most popular part of a video, or queuing to set up what you’re watching next.
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