After several months of testing, Google has now started providing a new feature for the Android YouTube app. The new feature is called Smart Downloads.
As its name suggests, it proposes to automatically download videos to the user’s smartphone. A feature that will undoubtedly divide opinions, especially among those who have computers with less storage space.
Youtube will decide which videos you prefer and download them automatically
The novelty now introduced in the YouTube application for Android is made available in Europe to all Premium users of the service. Other markets are still waiting for this release.
With Smart Downloads, the Youtube app will download 20 videos per week to the user’s smartphone. The selection of videos will be made through an algorithm based on user preferences.
All transfers will be done over a Wi-Fi connection to avoid incurring additional costs on users’ data plans. Therefore, it aims to make content available that is ready to be consumed even offline.
How users will receive Smart Downloads will be directly related to the assertiveness of your algorithm. Everything will depend on the downloaded content and whether it will effectively meet the user’s preferences.
Google applied a similar algorithm to YouTube Music. Feedback from users of this platform was positive and bodes well for its migration to the regular YouTube app.
However, this can be a frustrating feature for anyone with a smartphone with less storage space available. When 20 videos are downloaded per week, there is a high chance that the available space will run out quickly.
To try to solve this problem, Google will apply alert notices in situations where the available internal memory is about to run out. Alert that will be given before starting the video download process.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this new feature, you should go to Settings and Try New Features. Downloaded content will be available on your download page.