YouTube now lets you download videos to desktop, with a catch
Ryan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
TL; DR
- YouTube allows users to download videos to their computer through a web browser.
- The feature is available as an experimental Labs product for premium members.
YouTube finally lets users download videos from the web to watch offline later, but there is a catch.
Once enabled, a new download option will appear next to the Share and Save buttons on a YouTube video’s toolbar. When you click this button, the download will start and a progress dialog will appear in the lower left corner of the window. Downloaded videos are available in a special feed where users can also adjust download quality settings or clear the cache.
According to the Labs listing, the feature will be available until October 19, presumably in its current experimental form. It is unclear whether or when the feature will be made permanent or will remain a YouTube Premium feature for the foreseeable future. For frequently mobile users with unreliable internet connections, however, subscribing to Premium would be a good incentive. Of course, other plugins and websites offer similar functionality, but a feature baked by YouTube itself is more secure.
Interestingly, the function should work specifically with the “latest versions of Chrome, Edge or Opera browsers”. Mozilla Firefox and Safari are not mentioned.
Do you have access to the new download function in YouTube Premium? If so, leave a comment below and tell us what you think of it. Also, do you download YouTube videos? Vote in our poll above.
