YouTube launches ‘Smart Offline’ in India for cheaper video downloads

YouTube has introduce a new 'Smart Offline' feature in India to make downloading videos more convenient and cost-effective. Users can now schedule video downloads at night, when mobile data is at its cheapest, without having to actually stay up themselves.

This is cheaper for users, because many carriers often have unlimited or cheaper mobile Internet for night hours, usually between the midnight and dawn. Data charges in India still remain high, and through this move, YouTube will be hoping to reach a large swathe of price-conscious mobile phone users in the country.

"We hope you like this more affordable and convenient way to take videos offline, and continue watching YouTube whenever you like, buffer-free," Google's India blog states.    

The 'Smart Offline' feature does not work with Wi-Fi, but only for cellular data connections. For now, subscribers of carriers Airtel and Telenor have access to the feature. For instance, Airtel prepaid users can avail of the Happy Hours offer that gives back users 50% of the data consumed for in-app downloads scheduled between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Telenor subscribers can avail night packs, which are valid from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and offer 50 MB data for Rs 2 (approximately 3 cents) and 500 MB data for Rs 28 (approximately 42 cents).

To download a video this way, users can select the save overnight option. The video will be automatically downloaded overnight and ready for viewing under the saved videos category in the morning. 

The new feature is yet another attempt by YouTube to adapt to India's slow and costly Internet. In 2014, it had introduced the YouTube offline service, which enabled users to download and save videos to watch later and skip the long buffering period for videos, especially in areas with slow Internet connectivity. In addition, Google has also launched offline versions of Maps and Translate.