How To Get Your Money From YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium has been the subject of heated debate over the years, with some users baffled that anyone can pay to avoid ads on the video platform while others insist it’s worth every penny. That debate was repeated in April, when YouTube raised the price of Premium again. In addition to its main selling point of eliminating pre- and mid-ads, Premium also provides access to YouTube Music, allows in-app video downloads for offline viewing and allows mobile users to keep videos playing in the background while using other apps.

Whether or not you can get a YouTube Premium subscription is highly dependent on whether you take full advantage of its benefits. The cumulative benefits range from an improved video viewing experience to the larger graphics mentioned above. It may also depend on how much you pay, as it is often possible to get discounts bundled with other goods and services. YouTube also introduced a Premium Lite tier that eliminates some features in exchange for a reduced price of $9 per month, but we’re looking more at the full fat version of the service here. That’s a tier that starts at about $16 a month.

With all that in mind, here are a few ways to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth from YouTube Premium.

If you’re already in the process of buying a new smartphone or tablet, keep an eye out for bundled YouTube Premium credit. The same goes when you shop at certain stores, sign up for wireless carrier service, and more. Many products and services are bundled with the YouTube Premium free multi-month offer. Depending on how you shop, you could end up going a long time without paying a subscription fee.

At the other end of the spectrum, you can get six months of free Google Premium when you sign up for Google Fi. As of this writing, that deal is being offered with new subscriptions to the Unlimited Premium tier of mobile network provider Google. The company is also currently offering three free months with the new Pixel 10a smartphone. In some cases, you can stack deals. However, read the fine print. While I was able to use the Google Fi offer on top of my existing subscription when I purchased the line for a recent phone review, the details of the Pixel offer state that it’s only valid for YouTube Premium subscribers. A few years ago, I saved a whole year of free YouTube Premium after buying a new Samsung Galaxy phone and tablet (Samsung has no YouTube Premium offers as of this writing).

YouTube hopes that you will keep your subscription going after this free trial expires, but there is no cancellation penalty. Even if you live in, you reduce the total cost of the service — if six months of the annual subscription are free, that’s the equivalent of paying half the price for the whole year.

If you have an active YouTube Premium subscription, you automatically get access to YouTube Music. If you pay for a different service like Spotify or Apple Music, it’s worth giving YouTube Music a mention (and canceling other subscriptions) to save some coin – especially if you don’t care about fan features like lossless audio, or if you already use YouTube to listen to your favorite music. That listening history means you can start over, YouTube Music is already included in your preferences. In my testing, I’ve found its automatic playlists and mixes to be the best at picking up songs I’ve forgotten, and they’re also great when it comes to discovering new music.

If you have a large library of local music files, YouTube Music is a great way to listen on the go. From your computer, you can drag tracks directly into the browser-based application. Once uploaded and processed, they will appear in your library on any device. Unlike other services that allow local uploads, such as Apple Music, YouTube Music has a handy Uploads tab in its mobile apps, allowing you to keep your streaming library separate from your personal one.

Because it’s a Google product, YouTube Music is also well integrated with Google Home, Android Auto, Google TV and Gemini. It also includes podcasts, as YouTube itself is home to a large number of original audio shows. Whether you find YouTube Music fit for purpose for your music needs will depend on whether you accept YouTube’s way of doing things. But if you consider a paid YouTube subscription, the chances are higher that you will enjoy it.

Another benefit of YouTube Premium is the ability to save videos for playback locally on the iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the browser-based desktop version of YouTube. If you have unlimited wireless data and live in an area with good coverage, this may not matter much to you. But if you’re a frequent flyer, commute on the subway, have a spotty place to live, or have limited data on your wireless plan, it’s worth taking advantage of.

While connected to Wi-Fi or 4G and 5G wireless, you can download videos from the three-dot context menu next to each video listing. You can access them by tapping the You tab at the bottom right of the app and selecting Downloads. If there’s a long video you’d like to enjoy during the flight, or without interruption while riding your city train, downloading is a great way to avoid dealing with expensive and expensive airplane Wi-Fi or spotty underground connections.

Smart Downloads is a related feature. When you connect to Wi-Fi, it automatically downloads videos that the YouTube algorithm thinks you will watch the most. When you’re done watching the downloaded video, the app can delete it from your device’s memory to free up space. Smart Downloads is enabled by default for Premium members, which can be frustrating for some users (me). Smart downloads not only chew up your battery at inopportune times, but downloads are recorded in 1080p resolution, which makes them frustrating for those with 1440p or 4K displays. Thankfully, it can be disabled in the Downloads section of the app’s settings menu.

One of the most useful benefits included with a YouTube Premium subscription is background playback. By default, the YouTube apps for iOS and Android will pause the video when you exit them, but if you have YouTube Premium, videos will continue to play as you do other things on your phone or tablet. Until recently, the smart move was to load YouTube in a browser like Chrome, but Google put the kibosh on that earlier this year. This is obvious rent-seeking from Google – it’s not like there’s a fee for a feature like this that we’d be willing to pay – but still, it’s an important part of YouTube’s subscription.

Background playback is especially helpful for podcast addicts, especially if you tend to ignore the video features and leave your favorite open-microphone yappers behind while you wash the dishes. It’s also great for runners, cyclists and other outdoorsmen. Android users should be aware of one problem, however. Due to the operating system’s often aggressive battery management, the power-hungry YouTube app is one of the first background processes to be killed. This can result in the background video stopping suddenly, forcing you to open the app and press play.

There is one workaround left for free users. Picture-in-picture mode allows your video to continue playing in a small window in the corner of your screen while you use your device outside of the YouTube app. YouTube rolled out picture-in-picture to all users earlier this year. However, playback will still stop when you turn off your screen.

Finally, those willing to upgrade to YouTube Premium get access to test features and features in beta. Today, these are more common than AI-related. As of this writing, the only available login feature is the “Ask YouTube” search mode based on Google’s Gemini AI model. Such are the times. But in some cases, you will find very useful changes in what you do on YouTube.

In April, YouTube introduced the Auto Speed ​​feature to Premium users. If you are the type of person who increases the playback speed of long videos, this feature is a game changer. Instead of adjusting the speed uniformly at a fixed rate, it will adjust the speed intelligently based on what is happening in the video. For example, it will speed up when someone is speaking slowly, or slow down when complex information is being discussed. (Besides, Premium users also get access to up to 3.0x faster playback speed for brainiacs who can process a million words per minute, and can use the granular slider to control the speed.)

Another useful feature exclusive to Premium is the Jump Ahead button. If you double tap your screen to skip ten seconds, a button appears on the bottom right of the player. Tapping it cleans you up to the area most viewers jump to, allowing you to easily avoid sponsored segments and make your experience truly ad-free.

It’s these little touches that make YouTube Premium more than the pay-to-scape scheme for non-advertising users that its opponents paint it as. Other quality-of-life improvements like higher bitrate and more reliable sound are hard to put down once you get used to them.