YouTube's More Affordable Premium Lite Plan Gets New Perks

YouTube today updated its Premium Lite subscription plan with new features, including background play and downloads. Subscribers will be able to watch most videos ad-free offline and in the background.

General YouTube Feature Redux
Prior to now, downloads and background play were features that were limited to the more expensive Premium plan. YouTube Premium Lite is priced at $7.99 per month in the U.S., while YouTube Premium is priced at $13.99 per month.

YouTube Premium Lite removes ads from most, but not all videos, and it does not include ad-free access to the YouTube Music app. Most non-music content is ad-free with YouTube Premium Lite, though Shorts still have ads.

YouTube Premium removes ads from all videos, including music content, plus it has extra features like jump ahead, queuing, and continue watching.

YouTube says that background play and downloads are rolling out to Premium Lite subscribers starting today, but it may take a few weeks for everyone to get access to the new features.

Tag: YouTube

Popular Stories

Apple Announces Special Event in New York Feature 1

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

Sunday February 22, 2026 9:48 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products." Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3.1 Update for iPhones Coming Soon as 'Apple Experience' Nears

Sunday February 22, 2026 5:29 pm PST by
Apple's software engineers are testing iOS 26.3.1, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.3.1 should be a minor update that fixes bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, and it will likely be released within the next two weeks. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.2.1 with bug fixes and support for the second-generation...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

Apple is Testing These iPhone 18 Pro and Foldable iPhone Colors

Sunday February 22, 2026 8:41 am PST by
The special new color that Apple is considering for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max this year is red, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, he said that Apple is testing a "deep red" finish for the two devices. If this rumor materializes, it would be the first time that the Pro and Pro Max models ever come in red, and the iPhone 18 Pro models would be the first...
tim cook data privacy day

Tim Cook Warned by CIA That China Could Move on Taiwan by 2027

Tuesday February 24, 2026 4:03 am PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook was among a handful of top tech executives who attended a classified CIA briefing warning that China could attack Taiwan by 2027, according to a sweeping investigative report by The New York Times ($). The previously unreported briefing was apparently held in a secure room in Silicon Valley in July 2023. The meeting is said to have been arranged at the request of the...
airpods pro 3 design

Higher-End AirPods Pro Launching This Year

Monday February 23, 2026 2:31 pm PST by
While the AirPods Pro 3 launched less than six months ago, it has been rumored that Apple plans to unveil new AirPods Pro this year. Instead of AirPods Pro 4, it has been rumored that the new AirPods Pro will be a higher-end version of the AirPods Pro 3. This would be similar to the regular AirPods 4, which are available in two versions, with and without active noise cancellation....

Top Rated Comments

2 hours ago at 03:23 pm
Probably the only subscription where I feel I'm getting the most value for my money is YouTube Premium. Nothing comes even close. I just hope we're not in the honeymoon phase and then they go for the kill like most subscription services do.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2 hours ago at 03:23 pm
What is "most?"
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1 hour ago at 03:33 pm

YouTube Premium Lite in theUS starts at $10.99 not $7.99
Maybe if you're trying to subscribe through the Apple app store. It's definitely $7.99 on the website.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
1 hour ago at 03:38 pm
YT Premium is probably the most bang for the buck in my entire subscription life.

No ADs on YT and YT Music combo is exceptional value that I use the HECK out of.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
1 hour ago at 03:34 pm
Step 1. Ratchet ads to the point that the service becomes unusable.
Step 2. Charge to make it barely usable again.
Step 3. Repeat.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
1 hour ago at 03:41 pm
I don’t listen to music or watch music videos, but do watch some shorts and those will still get limited ads. Also, I do like jump ahead. Full on premium it is for me. Best subscription I have.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)