YouTube has upgraded its budget-friendly Premium Lite package, allowing subscribers to download videos for offline viewing and play content in the background while switching to other applications or when the screen is turned off. Previously, Premium Lite’s main benefit compared with the standard Premium plan was the removal of advertisements during most videos, except for music content and music videos. Under the latest update, Premium Lite users will now be able to save videos for offline viewing and continue playing videos in the background while multitasking on other apps or locking their devices. However, YouTube has indicated that the new features will apply to “most videos”, suggesting that certain categories — such as Shorts, songs and music videos — may remain excluded from background playback and offline downloads. The company said it would begin rolling out the upgraded Premium Lite benefits globally over the coming weeks, initially making the features available in selected countries before expanding more widely.

Source: Bangkok Post February 28, 2026 17:44 UTC