ONE of the best premium features on YouTube has been made available for free to users in a quiet shift noticed by some users.
Unfortunately, it’s not ad-free access to videos – that will remain a perk you have to pay for.
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But another top premium tool is the ability to download and watch content offline.
It’s particularly handy when you’re travelling and want to watch videos later on your flight.
And it can save you money too from nasty bill shocks instead of using data when out and about.
Users on Reddit have spotted that YouTube has started to offer downloading for free – but there is a slight catch.
You can only download in the lowest video qualities, Low (144p) and Medium (360p).
To watch offline in High (720p) or Full HD (1080p) you’ll still need a YouTube Premium subscription.
It’s not clear how widespread the upgrade is available at the moment.
But the move comes just a few months after the tech giant introduced a new YouTube Premium Lite option in the UK.
Normally you’d have to pay £12.99 for a YouTube Premium membership per month.
The Lite alternative comes in at £5 less each month instead, for £7.99.
There are some limitations though – it’ll remove ads on most YouTube clips, but won’t take them off music videos, as well as shorts or when you’re searching or browsing YouTube.
You also don’t get the ability to play content in the background.
YOUTUBE PREMIUM VS PREMIUM LITE
Here are the differences at a glance…
YouTube Premium Lite
- Ad-free YouTube videos (mostly)
- Ad-free YouTube Kids (mostly)
Price: £7.99 per month (Cancel anytime)
YouTube Premium
- Ad-free YouTube videos (totally)
- Ad-free YouTube Kids (totally)
- Ad-free YouTube Music app
- Download and play offline
- Background Play
Price: £12.99 per month (Cancel anytime)
Picture Credit: Google / YouTube
