YouTube Premium Lite gets Background Play and Downloads in India: Details

Priced at Rs 89 monthly, YouTube now offers Background Play and Downloads with its Premium Lite plan in India

YouTube has announced that background play and downloads are being added to its Premium Lite subscription. This means users will now be able to download videos for offline viewing and continue listening to a video’s audio even when the screen is locked or while switching between apps. The plan is priced at Rs 89 per month and offers ad-free viewing for most videos on the platform. It works across devices, including smartphones, laptops and smart TVs. The update is rolling out in all markets where Premium Lite is currently available, including India. 

This update comes shortly after YouTube tightened its browser-based workaround that allowed free background play and began showing “content unavailable” errors to some users who were using ad blockers.

YouTube Premium Lite: Details

• Price: Rs 89 per month
• Features: Ad-free videos (most content), background play, downloads

Exceptions:

• Ads will still appear on music content
• Additional features like Jump Ahead, queuing, Continue Watching and others are not included

YouTube Premium Lite plan: What’s changing

According to the YouTube blog, Premium Lite users will also get offline downloads and background play starting today and over the coming weeks. For clarity, background play lets users continue listening to a video’s audio even when they switch to other apps or lock their device’s screen. Offline downloads, on the other hand, allow users to save videos on their devices so they can watch them later without an internet connection. 

Similar to Premium Lite’s ad-free implementation, downloads and background play will only work on most videos. This means Premium Lite’s new benefits will only apply to most non-music content, excluding Shorts. 

  In a blog post, the company said: “Last year, we expanded our Premium Lite pilot to more markets and heard feedback about wanting these additional features included in the service.” Additionally, the company added that users who want completely ad-free viewing, including music content and YouTube Music Premium, should choose the regular YouTube Premium plan instead. 

YouTube launched Premium Lite in India last year as a lower-cost option for users who mainly wanted an ad-free experience. However, the plan had some limitations. It did not offer offline downloads and a background play feature. Ads continued to appear on Shorts, music content, and in areas like search and browsing. This made it different from the standard YouTube Premium plan, which also removes ads from music and offers uninterrupted music streaming. 

Existing YouTube Premium plans in India

• Individual Plan: Rs 149 per month
• Family Plan: Rs 299 per month (add up to five members aged 13+)
• Two-Person Plan: Rs 219 per month (add one member aged 13+)
• Student Plan: Rs 89 per month