YouTube is expanding some of its Premium features to more devices to make the experience smoother and more versatile for subscribers. While many people subscribe to YouTube Premium primarily to remove ads and access YouTube Music, Google has been quietly improving “power-user” features that let users control how they watch and listen.
One of the major updates is faster playback speeds. YouTube Premium now allows users to watch videos at speeds from 1x up to 4x, in 0.5x increments, on Android, iOS, and the web. Previously, this feature was only available in the mobile YouTube app.
Another handy feature is the ability to automatically download Shorts for offline viewing. This feature, which was initially limited to Android, is now available on iOS as well. Premium users can also watch Shorts in a picture-in-picture window.
For those who like skipping to key moments in videos, YouTube’s Jump Ahead feature is now available on smart TVs and game consoles to expand its reach beyond mobile devices.
Music lovers will notice a significant change with high-quality audio. You can now select the “High” audio option when watching music videos. It enables the 256kbps bitrate. This also applies to Art Tracks, which are official song uploads without a music video. Before, the High-quality option was limited to the YouTube Music app, but now it is available across YouTube Music and the main YouTube app on both Android and iOS.
These updates do not change the main benefit of YouTube Premium, the ad-free experience and access to YouTube Music, but they do make the subscription more consistent across devices. For $13.99 a month, Google is ensuring that Premium subscribers get the same features whether they are on mobile, desktop, or smart TV.
