YouTube increases the value of its Premium Lite tier through Background Play and Downloads

Last year, YouTube launched its Premium Lite tier as a slimmed-down, cheaper alternative to the standard YouTube Premium subscription. Now, YouTube is looking to make that deal even sweeter by adding a pair of useful features for Lite subscribers: Say hello to Background Play and Downloads.

Those self-descriptive perks have been available on YouTube Premium for years, and they both have their uses. Background Play serves the growing number of consumers who watch videos while doing something else at the same time, while Downloads comes in handy during travel days or other moments sans internet connection.

For a long time, non-paying YouTube customers could access Background Play as well, but the platform changed its tune earlier this year. Paywalling that feature is part of an effort to sell Premium Lite, which costs $7.99 per month. (O.G. YouTube Premium will run you $13.99 per month.)

“Last year, we expanded our Premium Lite pilot to more markets​ and heard feedback about wanting these additional features included in the service,” reads a YouTube blog post. “​We’re excited for today’s update and to continue testing and building products that best meet our users’ needs.”

Adding requested features is a good decision, but it won’t move the needle very much if YouTube users can still find third-party workarounds that accomplish the same task. To deal with that potential issue, YouTube is taking the Netflix approach: It’s cracking down on unlicensed apps that encroach on Premium Lite’s territory. That effort began with restrictions on password sharing and continued with actions against background playback apps. Will those moves convince consumers that YouTube’s reduced-price subscription is worth a monthly investment?

There’s at least one group that will likely be wooed by Background Play and Downloads: Podcast consumers. Both of those features come in handy with long-form shows that function well as background noise. With the competition in the video podcast world increasing, YouTube is staying up to date. Now it will find out if users are willing to buy into its Premium Lite play.