YouTube is making higher bitrate 1080p streams available to Premium subscribers

YouTube is coming with an improved version of 1080p streams for Premium subscribers. Those streams get a ‘higher bitrate’, but parent company Google gives little further details about this. The feature only works on iOS for now. Premium also gets other new features.

YouTube introduces those features in an update that only applies to iOS for now. It’s not known when those features will roll out to other platforms, but YouTube says it will “start an experiment for the web soon.” The most notable new feature is improved video quality for HD streamers. Users with a Premium subscription will then see the option to play videos not only at 1080p quality, but also at 1080p Premium quality with an ‘enhanced bitrate’. It is not known exactly how high that bit rate is. YouTube experimented with the feature last year, with the Reddit users noticed that the stream played at about 13MBit/s. A normal 1080p stream consumes about 8MBit/s.

The app will also have other functions on not only iOS, but also on Android and in the web app. There it becomes possible to pick up videos where they were cut off before. For example, users who want to continue after two minutes on another device can then continue watching the video in another app with a ‘continue watching’ button. In addition, it will also be possible to watch videos together with other users via the iOS and Android app. Premium users can then start a Google Meet conversation with other users who don’t need a Premium subscription. That feature will also be available via FaceTime on iOS via SharePlay in the future.

YouTube is also getting a feature where users can fill a row with later videos. It will also be possible to automatically download recommended upcoming videos in the queue, so that users can play them even when they are offline.