The ability to view videos offline is expected to come to YouTube mobile apps this November. It hasn’t been revealed as yet exactly how this feature will work, there has been chatter that YouTube might allow viewers to store videos for a “short time” for viewing when there’s no internet connection. The folks at AllThingsD claim to have obtained a memo that Google has sent out to commercial upload partners detailing how the offline viewing feature will work.
According to the memo, the updated YouTube app will come with an “add to device” feature which will allow them to store videos for a short period of time. If internet connectivity is lost, the stored videos will be available for offline viewing on their device for up to 48 hours. Once the time limit ends, the stored videos can not be watched until the device is connected to the internet again. After being connected, the time limit is refreshed. Videos for rental or purchase won’t be included, and Google in-stream ads will run in connection with the content. Offline views will be added to the total view count once the device goes online. Video uploaders will have the option of disabling offline viewing of their videos when they’re being uploaded or after they have been uploaded. The feature can also be disabled by region or asset. Google hasn’t commented on the leaked memo as yet.
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