Video-sharing and social media platform YouTube is adding new features, but they aren’t for everyone.
The new features are for premium members paying for a less disruptive experience on the platform. The rest of the world (those doesn’t pay for Premium) will have to continue enduring the constant irritation of ads and miss out on the new features.
YouTube Premium has 80 million subscribers. Currently, subscribers pay for features like ad-free listening across devices, offline viewing and listening, and background play which keeps your video playing while you’re using other apps or your screen is off.
Crispier YouTube videos, anyone?
In the coming weeks, Youtube will give premium members the option to watch better-quality 1080p videos by increasing the bitrate.
“While all users will still have access to 1080p, this enhanced 1080p quality setting will look extra crisp and clear, especially for videos with lots of detail and motion,” says YouTube in its Blog.
Unfortunately, this will initially only be available for premium users on iOS.
Queue videos
Users can finally queue videos on their phones and tablets. If you’re not a premium member, you’d think the platform would have given this feature to its members a while ago. They now finally have it.
Share content
Also added, is the ability to share content with others in real-time.
“Through Meet Live Sharing on Android devices, Premium members can host Google Meet sessions where all attendees, regardless of whether they are Premium or free users, can watch YouTube videos together,” says YouTube.
The platform will be rolling out the feature for FaceTime users on iOS on SharePlay.
Read more: New YouTube Music feature lets users create completely custom radio stations
Synced viewing
Viewers with multiple devices will be able to go from watching a video on one device and the continuing where they left off on a different device. So if you start watching something on your phone and then walk into an office, you can continue watching the same video on a laptop or TV without having to search for it again.
Offline viewing
An automated feature for premium users will download recommended content into their library so they can watch these when they are offline. We hope these somehow won’t live on your device, or that there’s a way to disable the feature, otherwise, your device’s free space won’t be free for long.
“With Smart Downloads, while you’re connected to Wi-Fi, we automatically add recommended videos straight to your library, ready for offline viewing,” says YouTube.
Source: YouTube Official Blog