YouTube has added two of the most-wanted features to its lower-cost plan. The company is bringing background play and offline downloads to the Premium Lite tier. The change makes the plan more useful for people who want an ad-free viewing experience and more flexibility on mobile devices. The platform announced the update on its official blog.
New Premium Features
The lower cost plan now lets subscribers play most videos while they use other apps or when the screen is off. The plan also now allows downloading most videos for offline viewing. Subscribers will still get an ad free experience for most content on the main site. Some content types are still excluded from ad-free access on the Lite plan. The full premium plan continues to include the music service without ads and a wider set of features.
The company says some short-form clips and music tracks are not included in the Lite plan features. The same limits apply to which videos can be downloaded or played in the background. The rollout will be gradual, and the company says the features will arrive for users in the coming weeks.
How It Works
Background play keeps audio and video running when the app is not visible on screen. That makes it easy to listen to lectures and long-form videos while using other apps. Offline downloads let users save eligible videos to their devices. The saved videos can be watched without an internet connection for the time period that the service supports.
The Lite plan still costs less than the full premium plan. The trade-off is that some music content and short-form clips remain outside the Lite benefits. The full plan also continues to bundle the ad-free music service and additional features for the higher monthly price. The change will make the Lite plan a stronger choice for many users. People who mainly want fewer ads and the basic offline and background features can pay less than before. Those who want the ad-free music catalog and the widest coverage may still prefer the full premium plan.