YouTube Premium’s $8 per month Lite subscription tier just got a major upgrade in the form of two new features: background play and support for offline downloads. The former allows you to continue video playback with the mobile YouTube app closed, along with native support for picture-in-picture (PiP) mode. The latter, meanwhile, unlocks the option to download videos locally onto your mobile device for viewing at a later date without an internet connection.
“Last year, we expanded our Premium Lite pilot to more markets and heard feedback about wanting these additional features included in the service. We’re excited for today’s update and to continue testing and building products that best meet our users’ needs,” says The YouTube Team in a new blog post.
The ad-free experience of YouTube Premium Lite is still present and accounted for here, as are the two other limitations that still require a full $14 per month Premium subscription to benefit from: access to YouTube Music for song and music video streaming, as well as additional features like jump ahead, queuing, and continue watching. It’s also worth noting that, just as before, ads may still appear on Lite when searching or browsing for content, and that Shorts are excluded from the various Premium Lite benefits.
- Free trial
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1-month free trial
- Ads
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Most content ad-free
- Downloads and background play
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No
YouTube Premium Lite removes most ads from YouTube for $8 a month.
YouTube Premium Lite might finally be worth its salt
Background play and offline downloads make all the difference
After previously towing with the idea of a cheaper YouTube Premium subscription tier back in 2023, Google officially launched Premium Lite in the US in early March of last year. The pitch is simple enough: allow users to watch ad-free videos on the streaming platform at a more affordable monthly rate, in exchange for losing out on certain benefits like background play, offline downloads, and access to the YouTube Music catalog.
Right from the get-go, YouTube Premium Lite offered a ton of potential, particularly in today’s market of ever-more-expensive streaming services. At $8 per month — $6 less than YouTube Premium’s standard $14 monthly rate — Lite is a nice option to have, especially for users who already pay for a separate music streaming service or who simply have no interest in accessing songs and albums through the service.
With Lite’s newfound additions of background play and offline downloads, the subscription tier just got a lot more compelling. As an affordable gateway into the world of ad-free YouTube, the plan now covers all the essentials beyond music-related content. As a Spotify user myself, I’m now far more inclined to scoop up YouTube Premium Lite than before, as I no longer have to sacrifice major features in order to get the ad-free YouTube experience without the music add-on hoisted upon me.
