YouTube Team has announced that in the course of November they will enable offline viewing of YouTube content via mobile apps. The aim of this feature is to provide users non-interrupted viewing whether due to poor network or busy schedule. Addressing video creators, the team said, “your fans’ ability to enjoy your videos no longer has to be interrupted by something as commonplace as a morning commute.”
This move has been seen as a good development given the YouTube’s Terms and Conditions that do not allow video downloads. Despite the Terms and Conditions, plenty of third party apps and browser extensions are available for enabling Internet users download YouTube videos.
The feature for enabling viewing videos offline in mobile apps would most probably be by pre-caching the videos for later viewing. Offline viewing of YouTube viewers via web browsers is already available but requires users to view at least the first one second of the video while they are online. Hopefully the latest development will enable users become more engaged on YouTube as the team promises, “This is part of our ongoing updates to give people more opportunities to enjoy videos and channels on YouTube mobile. Check out the YouTube blog when this launches in November for more details on how this will work for viewers.” The team said.