YouTube announced offline playback for Android users when it launched Android One in India. Finally this feature is available for India, Indonesia And Philippines users. Android users can now add a video to Offline and watch is later without internet connection.
But there is a twist. Once the video has been added to offline playback section, it will be available to watch without internet connection for up to 48 hours only. And good thing is that you can select the video quality to while saving it for offline. These videos can be accessed in the offline section which you can find the in menu. To be very clear, you should also have some free space in the device to use this feature. Because video content will be stored in your phone’s storage.
“Starting today, much of popular YouTube content in India, Indonesia and the Philippines is available for people to view offline, from Hindi movies to local comedy and unboxings. Making these popular videos available for offline playback will help people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth, buffer-free version of their favorite content,” Google announced.
Google has selected these three markets because these emerging markets have millions of users and rate of growth is very high. So, These markets are very important for Android. We have already covered the story on expected smartphone growth in 2015 based on survey. This report confirms that India and Indonesia will in top 3 highest growing markets.
If we go back in time, Google announced YouTube offline back in 2012 at Google I/O without any launch date time frame. And then it was dropped. But at the time, this feature was based on pre-loading videos from your subscribed channels. But the feature launched today is different.
YouTube for Android also received new material design makeover. It brings modern look and search filtering for Android devices.
Source: Google blog
