YouTube's Premium Lite tier gets background play and downloads

Engadget

by Sarah Fielding

February 24, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

YouTube has introduced two significant new features for its Premium Lite tier: background play and offline downloads. These additions aim to enhance user experience by allowing subscribers to watch most videos without ads in the background or offline. Priced at $8 per month, this tier offers a more affordable alternative to the standard Premium plan, which costs $14 per month. The new features come a year after the launch of the Premium Lite tier and less than a month after Google restricted background play access for non-Premium users. This move reflects YouTube's strategy to provide value at a lower cost while maintaining exclusivity for higher-tier subscribers. While most videos on Premium Lite will now be ad-free, there are exceptions, such as YouTube Music and certain other videos that still include ads. These updates ensure consistency across platforms and align with Google's efforts to streamline features exclusively for paid tiers. The rollout of these features began recently and will continue over the coming weeks for all Premium Lite subscribers. This marks an important step in making premium content more accessible, offering users a cost-effective way

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Originally published on Engadget on 2/24/2026