Imagine trying to watch the new trailer for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge but video buffers every five seconds. Or imagine only being able to watch the first minute of it, before stepping out of the WiFi zone at the mall.
Access to high-speed, affordable data remains a big challenge for our Indian YouTube fans, so we’ve been working on creating new ways to use our product with a lesser burden on data and speed.
Today we’re releasing a new offline feature within the YouTube app, in India. This feature lets people take videos offline to watch later during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. For videos where this feature is available, people can choose to add the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon that sits under the video frame.
Once taken offline, videos can be played back without an Internet connection for 48 hours, allowing people to enjoy YouTube videos without worrying about slow connections.
Starting today, much of the popular YouTube content in India is already available for people to view offline, including video content from some of India’s household names for entertainment and music, including T-Series, Saregama and Yashraj Films. 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.
This new offline YouTube experience is just a start. We hope to keep finding better ways to make video content more affordable and accessible to our growing base of YouTube mobile users in India.
Jay Akkad, Product Manager, YouTube recently watched “Nanga Punga Dost' VIDEO Song | PK | Aamir Khan | Anushka Sharma | T-series” offline
