Google has finally started rolling out the offline video viewing feature to its users on its Android and iOS app in India. After almost two months of making the announcement, the company today made it available for the users.
This new feature allows users to temporarily store videos offline to watch later during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. The video can be stored up to 48 hours to watch later.
Videos for which the feature is enabled are marked with an offline playback icon; tapping it lets the user select the preferred quality (360p or 720p). After the content is cached, the videos are available from the Offline section of the side menu.
A download icon appears underneath videos that, once pressed, prompt users to store the content in standard or high definition. To drive home the purpose of the feature, YouTube provides the file sizes next to each option. This way users can see how much data they will use and the amount of space they must have remaining on their device.
John Harding, Vice President of Engineering at YouTube, said of the new offline feature, “In a country like India, the future of the Internet is mobile… By launching this offline experience on YouTube in India today, we hope to help people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth, buffer-free version of YouTube.”
The offline feature will be rolled out to Indonesia and the Philippines as well along with India.
Leave a Reply