YouTube is expanding the value of its Premium subscription with five new features now rolling out across Android, iOS, web, smart TVs, and gaming consoles. The update, detailed on YouTube’s official Help forum and reported by 9to5Google[1], brings tools that were previously limited to experiments or select devices.
Premium subscribers can now play videos at up to 4x speed, doubling the 2x limit available to free users. The feature is currently live on Android, iOS, and the web.
Music videos will now stream at 256kbps for Premium members for better audio quality. This audio quality, long available on YouTube Music, is expanding to YouTube on Android and iOS. The Jump Ahead tool, which allows viewers to skip directly to the most-watched sections of a video, is moving beyond mobile and desktop. It is now rolling out to smart TVs and consoles.
YouTube Shorts are also getting a boost. Smart Downloads, which automatically saves recommended Shorts for offline viewing, is being expanded to all iPhone users after earlier availability on Android. iOS users are gaining Picture-in-Picture mode for Shorts, a feature that Android devices already support. The update allows Shorts to keep playing in a small floating window while users multitask.
References
- ^ 9to5Google (9to5google.com)