YouTube Premium Lite Just Got Better with Offline and Background Playback

YouTube has made its Premium Lite subscription more appealing. Subscribers can now enjoy background playback and offline video downloads, alongside the existing ad-free viewing experience on most videos. These benefits are currently rolling out, though it may take a few weeks to reach everyone.

YouTube expands its Premium Lite benefits

With Premium Lite, YouTube aims to make some of its premium features more accessible at an affordable price. Last year, the company expanded the Premium Lite pilot to more markets and received user feedback requesting additional features. The latest development appears to be a response to those demands.

“You asked, and we listened! Today, we’re announcing that Background Play and Downloads are coming to YouTube’s Premium Lite subscription service”, said YouTube. Background playback lets you continue playing videos while using other apps or when your mobile device screen is off. Likewise, the downloads feature lets you save videos and playlists to watch offline, which comes in handy while travelling or in areas with poor internet connectivity.

However, these features will only work for most standard videos. You can’t enjoy the features in Shorts or music content, such as official/premium music videos, Art Tracks, and children’s songs. Moreover, user-generated content that includes content from music partners is also excluded.

Note that Premium Lite does not offer a completely ad-free experience. You may see ads on music content, Shorts, and when you search or browse. Moreover, the subscription does not offer YouTube Music Premium. Other features, such as Continue watching, Jump ahead, High-quality video and audio, and Queuing, are also not part of the Lite plan.

You can subscribe to YouTube Premium Lite for $7.99 per month in the US. So it is almost half the price of the YouTube Premium subscription ( $13.99 per month). To subscribe, head over to this link and then click Learn more under Premium. Now tap Get YouTube Premium to pick your plan.