YouTube has announced a new feature for its YouTube app, called Smart Offline. The feature lets users download and save videos at night when the data rates offered by mobile operators are cheaper. To utilise the feature, users can tap the offline button and select the “Save overnight” option when prompted. Once selected, YouTube will automatically schedule the video to be downloaded overnight, after 'peak hours'. However, the company notes that this feature will not work on WiFi networks. The feature is gradually being rolled out to Airtel and Telenor subscribers, and the company hopes to make the feature available to all users in India, eventually.
Jessica Xu, Product Manager, YouTube said in Google's official blog, “We’re always working on ways to make the YouTube offline experience even better. Many mobile operators already offer discounted data and promotions to their subscribers, for the Internet during late night hours. Today, we’re beginning to roll out a feature called Smart Offline on YouTube that lets you takes advantage of these cheaper data rates as offered by your mobile operator, without requiring you to stay up late at night.”
YouTube’s offline feature was unveiled back in 2014, and allowed users to download videos to Android or iOS devices to watch later. The downloaded content will be available for offline playback only through the YouTube app.