I'll pay for YouTube Premium forever as long as this lesser-known feature never goes away

I am going to pay for YouTube Premium without end so long as this lesser-known characteristic by no means goes away

When you strive watching YouTube with out adverts, it may be laborious to return. Adverts won’t run as lengthy on the typical YouTube video as they do on broadcast tv, however watching them earlier than, throughout, and typically even after a video will get previous quick. Particularly when many movies are additionally sponsored. Avoiding these adverts could make paying $16 per 30 days for YouTube Premium cheap. The subscription is nice for extra than simply eradicating adverts from YouTube, although.

Premium will get you ad-free viewing, music streaming, and loads of different perks. What’s been shocking for me as somebody who initially signed up for the subscription to keep away from adverts, is that I’ve truly discovered “Good Downloads” to be a important characteristic. YouTube presents a approach to save movies to observe offline, however the platform’s system for routinely downloading movies to observe has not solely saved me once I was caught on an extended flight, it is also gotten me to strive movies I won’t have watched in any other case. By itself, it isn’t motive sufficient to subscribe, nevertheless it may be the very best perk on provide apart from YouTube Premium’s ad-free expertise.

YouTube Premium caters to energy customers

The options make sense if YouTube is your major supply of leisure

YouTube Premium is the tip product of a number of makes an attempt by Google to supply a subscription that individuals who use the corporate’s free apps and companies can be prepared to pay for. That began with Google Play Music in 2011, and later YouTube Music Key in 2014, which launched the concept of ad-free YouTube movies, although solely with music movies. The fundamental options of YouTube Premium would not coalesce into one product till the launch of YouTube Pink in 2015, which utilized the ad-free aspect of Music Key to all of the movies on the platform, and launched the concept of unique exhibits and films that have been solely accessible to subscribers. YouTube Pink would later be rebranded as YouTube Premium, and the YouTube Music streaming service (itself the results of Google’s messy method to product improvement) was added as a bonus.

Automating the method of downloading movies makes quite a lot of sense, however subjecting myself to what Google thinks my style ought to or may very well be is simply as attention-grabbing.

Once you pay for YouTube Premium you obtain the flexibility to stream music by YouTube Music, and the next advantages:

  • Advert-free movies
  • Background playback
  • Image-in-picture
  • Offline downloads

I signed up for YouTube Premium to take away adverts (and I’ve dabbled with utilizing YouTube Music as my major streaming service, once in a while), however of the options the subscription presents, offline downloads have turn out to be probably the most useful, and significantly a model of the characteristic Google calls “Good Downloads.” With Good Downloads enabled, my YouTube app routinely downloads a group of beneficial movies for me to observe offline, based mostly on my watch historical past. Automating the method of downloading movies makes quite a lot of sense, however subjecting myself to what Google thinks my style ought to or may very well be is simply as attention-grabbing.

Letting YouTube choose what you watch is quite a lot of enjoyable

The iPad YouTube interface, showing Smart downloads at the top of the Downloads page.

The Criterion Channel exists now as a extremely curated streaming service for impartial and basic cinema, a few of which The Criterion Assortment has launched on bodily media. Earlier than that, although, the service kicked the tires on its streaming tech by providing one film every week within the lead as much as its full launch. The “Film of the Week” program was thrilling for a movie lover like me, as a result of every film was a shock, and on a couple of event it led me to watching one thing I beloved that I would not have seen in any other case. Key to the entire expertise was the dearth of different choices. All of the Criterion Channel app had was one film at a time, so I felt extra inclined to only strive it somewhat than scroll round shopping different choices.

In lots of instances, Good Downloads will get me to do the identical factor. As a result of it is downloading movies to observe within the background, I haven’t got a transparent concept of what I will get, and and not using a constant web connection, I haven’t got some other choices to observe. It is already led me to strive movies from creators I usually skip on my YouTube residence web page. It may be scary to provide YouTube a lot management over your machine’s storage with out figuring out what you are going to get, however you may set deliberate limits in order that the app would not burn by your storage:

  1. Open the YouTube app.
  2. Faucet in your profile icon after which faucet on the gear icon to open Settings.
  3. Scroll right down to the Video and audio preferences part and faucet on Background & downloads.
  4. Faucet on Modify Good downloads.
  5. Go away Storage use on Auto if you’d like YouTube to regulate the dimensions of downloads based mostly in your utilization, or faucet Customized to set a particular restrict.
  6. Modify the slider to alter the quantity of area you wish to dedicate to downloads.
Three screenshots of the settings and download pages of the YouTube app.

You may also modify the decision of the movies YouTube downloads to stretch the area you put aside even additional:

  1. Open the YouTube app.
  2. Faucet in your profile icon after which faucet on Downloads.
  3. Faucet on the gear icon within the prime proper of the display screen.
  4. Faucet on Obtain high quality and select between Full HD (1080p), Excessive (720p), Medium (360p), and Low (144p).

These settings may give you some peace of thoughts for those who’re nervous about how YouTube makes use of your storage, and you too can manually obtain any video you wish to save for later for much more management. You may obtain any video simply by tapping on a video within the app after which tapping on the Obtain button underneath the video’s title.

YouTube Premium is price it for now

The subscription worth does proceed to rise, although

YouTube premium on an iphone rendering.
YouTube / Pocket-lint

Most individuals grasp on to YouTube Premium to take away adverts, and rightly so. The variety of adverts included in most YouTube movies has elevated because the video platform launched, and Mashable reported in 2025 that Google has developed a device to position adverts proper when a video is at its most attention-grabbing. The price of YouTube Premium has additionally just lately elevated, which makes the additional options of the subscription much more vital to benefit from.

YouTube Premium

What’s included?

Advert-free YouTube, YouTube Music, background playback, offline downloads

Worth

Begins at $16 a month

Stay TV

No

YouTube Premium is a subscription service that gives ad-free viewing, background play, and entry to YouTube Originals and downloads for offline use.


If Good Downloads do not seem to be your pace, it may be price it for the frequent new experimental options Google exams and the choices for enhanced audio you may benefit from on YouTube and YouTube music. Sometime, the price of YouTube Premium might outstrip its advantages, however for now it seems like Google is getting the steadiness proper.