South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria are the latest regions to get the option of storing video content from YouTube offline using its mobile app. In other words, users in these regions can now choose content for later viewing when they have access to a decent internet connection, and consume it when they don’t.
YouTube parent company Google announced the new feature in a post on its Africa Blog on Wednesday.
Author of the blog post, Google product manager Matthew Darby, says the feature is particularly well-suited to sub-Saharan Africa, where reliable internet connectivity “remains a big challenge”. Don’t we know it?
Videos that support the new feature will display an icon for offline storage. Users tap the icon and can then view the video without an internet connection for up to 48 hours. The focus is on local content initially, and Google says the feature does not extend to music videos, presumably due to licensing or copyright issues.
“Offline playback is just a start,” Darby says. “We’re working on even more ways to make video content more affordable and accessible to our growing base of mobile users in the region.”
