YouTube's More Affordable Premium Lite Plan Gets New Perks - MacRumors
Skip to Content

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

General YouTube Feature Redux

YouTube Bringing Free Picture-in-Picture to iPhone Users Outside the U.S.

Wednesday April 29, 2026 5:01 pm PDT by
YouTube's picture-in-picture mode on the iPhone and iPad is expanding to more users worldwide, YouTube said today. Picture-in-picture (PiP) will be rolling out globally, so it will no longer be limited to those in the U.S. and Premium subscribers. Non-Premium users worldwide will be able to use PiP for longform, non-music content on iOS and Android. This has already been available in the...
Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...

Top Rated Comments

ipedro Avatar
11 weeks ago
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: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
11 weeks ago
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: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
11 weeks ago
I would pay extra to disable shorts. Their existence makes YouTube insufferable.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
11 weeks ago
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: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
11 weeks ago
What is "most?"
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
11 weeks ago

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: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)