Skip to main content

YouTube Music gains ability to download songs, albums, and playlists

While Google has said that YouTube Music and Google Play Music will soon merge, that doesn’t mean Google isn’t working on improving YouTube Music in the meantime. In fact, the company just launched a major upgrade to YouTube Music, now allowing users to download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening.

Now, this isn’t the first time users have been able to download music on YouTube Music, but it is a serious improvement for ease of use and convenience. Previously, you could download music through the offline mixtape feature, which was automatically created based on your listening history — that meant you had little control over the specific songs that were downloaded.

Recommended Videos

Saving music to listen to offline is pretty easy to do. Simply tap on the menu icon next to a song, album, or playlist, then hit “Save Offline.” You’ll get a notification asking if you want to save the audio or video, and if you want to save the video you can choose between SD or HD. On iOS things are even easier — simply swipe the song, album, or playlist left, then tap the offline button. Then, to access your offline music, tap on your profile photo and hit the “Offline” button.

It’s a nice feature — but one that should have been included before. It also makes the service even more similar to Google Play Music. Google confirmed that the two would be merging in a report from The Verge, which followed a report from February that noted that the two teams behind the services had been combined. We don’t yet know exactly when the two will combine — but moves like this suggest that Google is working to make the experience the same across both services before the merge takes place.

It does make sense to combine the services. Subscribing to one automatically gets you a subscription to the other, and combining them will simply make things that much easier for users. It’s also not certain yet how the merger will be handled — it’s possible YouTube Music could simply be absorbed into Google Play Music, or vice versa. Or, it is also possible that a totally new service will be created to house the features of both.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
YouTube gets parental code feature on TV to protect kids
YouTube on TV asking for parent code.

YouTube has had quite a monumental year in terms of user engagement, logging in over a billion hours of content streamed daily on TV sets alone. However, the platform is also home to a sea of content that isn’t safe for children, which is why a dedicated kids' experience has been there for a while.

Now, YouTube is adding a password protocol that will keep young users from accessing any other profile apart from their designated kid's profile on a TV. In a community update, the company introduced the new Parent Code feature that will block kids from accessing user profiles for adults in their household.

Read more
The YouTube mobile app is getting a small redesign. Here’s what’s changing
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 playing a YouTube video.

How do you feel about the YouTube app on iOS and Android? Most of us use the app and don't think twice about it, but YouTube announced a lot of changes in October. Some of these planned updates have begun to roll out, and they're worth paying attention to — especially because one of them is difficult to notice. The updated bottom bar is a subtle change, but it adds a bit of flair.

The updated bottom bar is part of a server-side update, which means you don't have to download a new version of YouTube to see it. However, you should ensure you're using the latest version of the YouTube app. For Android, that's 19.47, and it's 19.49 for iOS. The update hasn't reached all devices yet — I still don't see it on my own phone — but it should be applied by the end of the day.

Read more
What is YouTube Premium? Price, content, and more
YouTube Music

When it comes to watching videos on the internet, YouTube remains the most common place to do it. It's been around since 2005, delivering a hub for video content and includes everything from the newest music videos, to live-streaming events. While the website itself is free to use, its filled with ads that have a tendency to interrupt your videos at the worst possible time. However, with YouTube Premium you can eliminate those pesky ads, and get back to watching the content you want to see -- without interruptions.

The YouTube family of products can be a bit confusing, however. In addition to YouTube Premium, there are other paid services like YouTube Music, YouTube TV, and the now-defunct YouTube Go, plus some free movies on YouTube you don't want to miss. The price of YouTube Premium has changes since launch, and with new services like YouTube Premium Lite, its worth considering which option is right for you. There are even bundling options that could save you some money like the YouTube Premium family plan, or the free trial.

Read more