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YouTube Premium expands to 10 new countries, including 1 in North America
Jamaica and 9 more countries around the world can enjoy ad-free YouTube
YouTube has amassed a massive following, regarded today as one of the largest hubs for user-generated long-format video content. We can also attribute its popularity to affiliations with Google, and convenient accessibility on Android, iOS, smart TVs, and the web. This also applies to YouTube’s geographic availability, with the platform available in over 100 countries. YouTube also celebrated 100 million Premium and YouTube Music subscribers in February, but the expansion continues.
YouTube wants Premium members to test drive even more AI-based app features
Google has already introduced AI for video and comment section summaries
With more companies looking for ways to leverage AI, Google is continuing to use it to develop new features for its products and services. YouTube is one example that now boasts several AI-based features, such as video and comment section summaries. However, it seems that Google isn’t done integrating AI across YouTube just yet. Now, Premium subscribers are getting a first look at the latest AI-based features the company is rolling out on the video platform.
Let's discuss if YouTube Premium's $14 monthly pricing is grounded in reality
The Android Police team dive into YouTube Premium and whether the benefit of YouTube Music is worth the cost to remove ads
It's no secret that YouTube is currently cracking down on ad blockers, which are likely on the rise thanks to the amount of ads stuffed into YouTube videos. Of course, YouTube offers a subscription plan known as YouTube Premium, which conveniently removes ads from the service for $14 a month. You also get access to YouTube Music, but if you already pay for Spotify or any other music streaming service, access to YouTube Music is moot.
YouTube Premium Lite is the latest service to join the Google graveyard
YouTube's cheaper paid plan is shutting down after October 25
YouTube Premium is a great way to get rid of those annoying ads on YouTube, but it's also pretty expensive. For those not interested in the other YouTube Premium features, such as offline downloads and YouTube Music, then YouTube Premium Lite was a great option. Google began testing the cheaper plan in 2021 in a few European countries, eschewing those extras in favor of just the ad-blocking experience. Unfortunately, Google has decided to cancel YouTube Premium Lite even before it can spread its wings.
As expected, the other shoe finally dropped on YouTube Premium subscribers this week. After family plan prices shot up last fall, YouTube has now announced a $2 increase per month for individual plans, bringing the total monthly price up to $14 per month. Even worse was the decision to end grandfathered $10 per month plans later this year, promising that those long-time users would have to shell out the same as everyone else.
Say goodbye to your grandfathered YouTube Premium account
Google is sending an email to those with cheaper plans to give the bad news
Google raised prices for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music this week, now asking for $14 and $11 per month, $2 and $1 more, respectively. People immediately wondered if this increase would also affect grandfathered YouTube Red accounts, which have been paying a lower rate since the company rebranded the service to YouTube Premium in 2018. Thanks to an email sent to one such account holder, Android Police can confirm that the new price is coming to those users, too.
Previews on YouTube’s seek bar are getting a ‘big’ upgrade
YouTube Premium members can enjoy bigger previews in the latest experiment
While easily the biggest benefit of YouTube Premium is that you get rid of those obnoxious ads, it also affords you a bundled subscription to YouTube Music and access to a bunch of features like higher picture quality and media controls. Premium users enjoy the option to try out new experimental features that aren’t yet available to everyone else. YouTube is currently testing one such feature that makes it easier to follow along with preview thumbnails on the seek bar and jump to the right spot.
YouTube is testing a way to prevent accidental touches from ruining your streams
Testing is limited to YouTube Premium subscribers
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Even if you have one of the best smartphones around, touchscreens can sometimes seem like a bane, especially when accidental touch inputs give you movie spoilers or kick you out to your home screen while you're watching a video. Although the problem is compounded by larger screens, some of the best entertainment apps like Netflix allow locking the screen to prevent interference from accidental touches. Now, we can confirm YouTube is following suit with its latest experiment.
YouTube starts rewarding the loyalty of Premium subscribers with pointless badges
Hopefully, there'll be perks one day
YouTube Premium unlocks several benefits that are otherwise unavailable for users on the free tier. The Google-run video platform has long tried to convince customers of the benefits of Premium while adding new perks like video queuing and better 1080p video streaming, among others. Premium subscribers are now seeing new badges based on their listening activity, albeit without any way to redeem them or unlock additional features.
YouTube gets official video downloads on the web, saving you from using some very sketchy sites
For Premium members only, of course, and only for a limited time
Downloading content for playback later is most useful on mobile, where your connection quality is determined by your location. But there are plenty of us whose home connection isn't so great either, or who prefer to play back media on laptops that are likewise limited by location. To that end, YouTube is now testing downloaded video on the desktop for Premium subscribers.
YouTube Music reaches 50 million premium subscribers, driven by emerging markets and Gen Z
It was definitely worth killing Google Play Music, right? Right?
Google's introduction of the branded YouTube Music service, and its cold-blooded murder shutdown of the older Google Play Music service, hasn't been all that smooth. But apparently it's been profitable. Google's Global Head of Music for YouTube, Lyor Cohen, says that the service now has 50 million subscribers across the various options.
Messing around with experimental software features is a ton of fun. After all, who doesn't love to enable the newest flags in Chrome just to see what happens? YouTube has long had a hub for all of its unfinished tweaks and tools, but it was so unpublicized, you likely didn't even know it existed. That's finally starting to change, as new banners in the app are asking users to try out all sorts of incomplete options for a limited time.
YouTube is testing a cheaper 'Premium Lite' subscription with the only feature that matters
If you just want to remove ads from YouTube and nothing more, this will save you money
The adverts interspersed between YouTube videos can get very obnoxious, so much so that I pay the Premium subscription to get rid of them. Unfortunately, this includes a lot of other stuff that I don't really need but am still paying for, like YouTube Music (I prefer Spotify for that). Thankfully, Google is currently testing a new "Premium Lite" tier that could improve the situation for anyone in the same boat.
Google is now pushing its subscription services on its hardware store
One place to subscribe to them all
Google is an advertising business first and foremost, though over the last few years, the company has introduced many paid services: YouTube Premium, Google One, Fi, and Stadia Pro come to mind, among many others. There's never been a central hub where you could find Google's subscription offers, but that's now a thing of the past: You can see all of the company's paid services in one place on the Google Store.
YouTube briefly tested cross-device downloads
The UI is live, but the feature doesn't seem to be functional yet
It looks like YouTube wants to make video downloads easier to manage for Premium users. A cross device offline settings entry has popped up and subsequently disappeared in the most recent Android app versions for some. While the feature apparently wasn't fully functional yet, it looks like it might allow you to download videos on your phone and make them automatically appear on other devices someday.
YouTube's got 22 James Bond films free to stream, ready to fuel all your best-007 arguments
lol no daniel craig tho
It's that time of year where everyone's stuck in the house for one reason or another, so why not put on a movie? Maybe even a James Bond title? YouTube is offering 22 selections from the 007 universe for free viewing in the U.S. during the month of December.
YouTube celebrates the holidays by offering free Premium memberships for 3 months
🎶On the first day of December Google sent to me / lots of cat videos with no ads to see 🎶
Black Friday might be over until next year, but that doesn't mean the gifts are already gone. Google is still giving out a generous 3-month free trial to YouTube Premium for eligible members to celebrate the rest of Cyber Week.
YouTube Premium subscribers in more countries can now get their free Stadia Premiere Edition bundle
The promo was previously limited to the US and the UK
Google loves to bundle all kinds of perks with its subscriptions, and a free Stadia Premiere Edition worth $100 is the latest generous gift lucky YouTube Premium subscribers can receive in the US and UK. And now, the company has expanded the offer to more countries. A while back, a Google support representative told a Redditor that the promo would be available in Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain starting November 16, 2020, and with that date already passed, the promo is now live in these countries.
How to get a free Stadia Premiere Edition bundle ($100 value) if you have YouTube Premium
A $100 / £90 / €100 value
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Google likes bundling freebies with its products and services. In the past few months, Pixel 5 and 4a 5G buyers got a bunch of service subscriptions for free with their purchase, Chromebook owners were able to redeem three months of YouTube Premium, Google One subscribers got three months of Stadia Pro, and some YouTube Premium users received a free channel membership and/or a Nest Mini. Another promo is joining the fray today, also for YouTube Premium subscribers but only in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain (for now), letting them redeem a Stadia Premiere Edition bundle for free instead of its original $100 / £90 / €100 price.
Leaving YouTube Premium will be a tougher decision once you see all the benefits you're getting
Or at least Google hopes that's the case...
You might be looking at your YouTube Premium subscription and thinking it's not that worth it after all. You don't watch that many videos or listen to that much music, so it'd be more financially judicious to stop paying that monthly $12 (or whatever it costs in your neck of the world). Google would very much like to dissuade you from that and its most recent strategy is to clearly spell out the benefits you've been getting out of Premium so you'd think twice before starting the cancel procedure.