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YouTube Premium subscribers are getting higher-quality videos and more

The enhanced 1080p quality will "look extra crisp and clear" with "lots of detail and motion".

YouTube is giving you more reasons to switch to its premium tier. They are introducing a bunch of new features to YouTube Premium, including a new enhanced bitrate version of the 1080p video quality, which is coming to iOS first.

Early this year, YouTube tested a “1080p Premium” video quality on its mobile app, which had some people worried that they’d lock the 1080p video quality behind a paywall. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, as the higher bitrate 1080p will sit alongside the regular one as an option for Premium subscribers.

YouTube Premium enhanced 1080p Premium quality

According to YouTube, the enhanced 1080p quality setting will “look extra crisp and clear” with “lots of detail and motion”. Higher bitrate videos will have information per pixel, meaning better quality videos without the need to switch to 1440p or 2160p quality.

Apart from the enhanced 1080p quality, YouTube Premium is introducing a few more features:

  1. First off, it is expanding queuing videos to phones or tablets. You can easily add videos to your queue by tapping the three dots button and selecting Play Next in Queue. This way, users can create their own playlists allowing you better control over what to watch next.
  2. Meet Live Sharing is also introduced on Android devices. This feature allows Premium users to host a Google Meet session and invite other users (free or Premium) to watch videos together.
  3. Premium subscribers can switch between different devices without losing their place in a video. You can start watching a video on your laptop, pause it, and resume it on your TV or phone. This feature is now available on Android, iOS, and the Web.
  4. And last but not the least, Premium subscribers can download videos for offline viewing automatically. The Smart Downloads feature automatically downloads recommended videos straight to your library for offline viewing.

It looks like YouTube is dead set on expanding its paid subscribers this year. In 2022, they had around 30 million paid subscribers on Premium and Music. I myself have been a Premium subscriber for quite a while now, including our whole household in a family plan. I don’t have plans of going back to the free tier in the near future.

YouTube Premium is priced at ₱159 per month in the Philippines. It comes with a 1-month free trial.

Image: Unsplash

Bryan is a geek at heart and a tech enthusiast by choice. He has a strong background in corporate communications, marketing services, and customer relations having worked in the telecommunications and banking sectors for over two decades. In his spare time, he enjoys watching clips on YouTube and binge watching shows on Netflix.

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