MANILA – As part of an initiative to make videos more accessible to mobile users without data, YouTube has launched an offline feature for YouTube in the Philippines, making the video sharing platform easier to access on mobile devices, while lessening the burden of data for its growing base of mobile users.
This is part of YouTube’s first release of its ad-supported offline feature on Android and iOS, which was is also launched today in India and Indonesia.
The new offline feature for the YouTube app lets people make videos available for offline viewing using WiFi or their data plans. Once taken offline, the videos can be viewed without an Internet connection for 48 hours, allowing people to enjoy YouTube videos during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. For videos where this feature is available, people can choose to add the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon.
John Harding, Vice President of Engineering at YouTube, said, “We want to make sure we are making YouTube as enjoyable as possible for our growing base of mobile users in the Philippines. By launching a new offline feature for YouTube today, we hope to help people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth, buffer-free version of YouTube.”
Starting today, much of the popular YouTube content within the Philippines is ready for people to view offline from indie comedy to unboxing videos.
“We are delighted to launch this new offline experience on YouTube with some of the top Filipino players in entertainment. By making these popular videos available for temporary offline viewing, our partners will help fans connect more easily with their favorite content, while also helping bring more viewers to their videos. We hope to keep finding better ways to make video content more affordable and accessible in the Philippines,” said Ryan Morales, Country Marketing Manager for Google Philippines.
