YouTube Premium, the subscription service that allows an ad-free, offline, and background play experience, has recently introduced five new features for its members. These latest updates include queuing on phones and tablets, Meet Live Sharing on Android devices, continuing to watch videos across different devices, Smart Downloads for offline viewing, and an enhanced 1080p HD video quality setting that will be exclusive to iOS Premium members.
Queuing on phones and tablets gives users more control over their viewing experience. Whether you want to switch between different types of content or simply have a queue of videos to watch, this new feature puts the control back into your hands.
Meet Live Sharing on Android devices and soon to be available for FaceTime users on iOS via SharePlay, allows Premium members to host Google Meet sessions where attendees can watch YouTube videos together. This feature is not limited to Premium users and can be enjoyed by both Premium and non-Premium members alike.
Continuing to watch videos across different devices is now available on Android, iOS and Web for Premium members. This feature allows users to pick up right where they left off on a different device, without any interruption.
Smart Downloads is a great feature for those who are always on-the-go. While connected to Wi-Fi, recommended videos are automatically added to your library for offline viewing. So, whether you’re on a long flight or in an area with no internet connection, you can enjoy your favorite videos without any hassle.
Lastly, YouTube Premium is introducing an enhanced 1080p HD video quality setting for iOS Premium members. This feature will bring an even deeper visual quality to our members, particularly for videos with lots of detail and motion. The enhanced 1080p quality setting will not be available to non-Premium users, giving Premium members an even more immersive viewing experience.
This last feature is arguably the most interesting as it appears that YouTube is using an enhanced bitrate which one would assume would require more bandwidth and the company is therefore betting on the hope that Premium subscribers are paying for a faster internet connection.
