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

By Christian de Looper Published August 4, 2017

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

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Topics

Phones

The $1,500 flagship might be closer than you think

Flip phones already broke the $1,500 mark this year, and slab flagships aren't far behind.

iPhone 17 Pro and Google Pixel 10 Pro.

In July, a Google executive broke the silence on the ongoing memory crisis, highlighting a more than fourfold increase in RAM prices between 2025 and 2026, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. The prices have gone up from $2.80 in 2025 to roughly $12 in 2026, as mentioned in the same report. Run the math for a 16GB memory package, and the cost to the company has apparently gone up from $45 to $192.

That's not a rounding error; it's the floor moving under the entire industry's feet. Google is not alone in speaking about the ongoing memory crisis. We've also seen Nothing's CEO speak about it, and other brands like Motorola, OnePlus, and Xiaomi make price adjustments across their lineup.

Phones

I’ve used the Pixel 10 Pro a year. I hope Google fixes these nagging issues on the Pixel 11 Pro

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

I’ve been using the Google Pixel 10 Pro for almost a year now, which means I’ve had plenty of time to figure out what I love about it and, more importantly, what still gets on my nerves. And with the Pixel 11 Pro launching on August 12, just three days from now, my wishlist for Google has gotten pretty long. There’s a lot the Pixel already gets right. The software is still one of my favorite Android experiences, performance is generally solid, and Google’s Gemini features have become genuinely useful in ways I didn’t expect. Those are all big reasons I’ve stuck with Pixel phones for as long as I have.

But spend enough time with any phone and the little annoyances stop feeling so little. Over the past year, I’ve run into a handful of recurring Pixel problems that I really don’t want to carry over to another generation. Some have frustrated me for months, while others have made me question whether I can completely rely on my Pixel when I need it most. So, with the Pixel 11 Pro almost here, I have a few things I desperately want Google to get right this time.

Computing

Apple is testing Chinese DRAM even after CXMT refused to cut prices

Apple may be testing CXMT memory for iPhones and MacBooks

iPhone 17 Pro Max

Apple’s search for more memory supply has taken another step forward. The company is now testing DRAM from Chinese manufacturer CXMT across several products, including iPhones and MacBooks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple has also held early talks with CXMT about supplying memory for some devices sold in China and is seeking support from the US government before moving ahead.

The timing is particularly interesting. Just recently, we learned that a shortage of DRAM could already be holding up production of the A20 Pro chip expected inside the iPhone 18 Pro. TSMC is said to have around $1 billion worth of finished chips waiting for memory before packaging can continue.