YouTube has finally announced its ad-free subscription service, “YouTube Red. The ad-free service cost $9.99 which gives access to YouTube’s huge catalog of videos and Google Play Music, too… Subscribers will also be able to save videos locally for offline viewing, so need to pre-load your device with content from your favorite YouTube channels, even those found on the recently launched YouTube Gaming site.
YouTube Red gives subscribers the ability to play content in the background. Strangely, this is something that hasn’t been possible with the YouTube app as of yet on mobile platforms. We’ve probably all tried, at some point, to multi-task while watching a YouTube video, only to have the video stop playing.
Compared to video subscription services, like Hulu and Netflix, YouTube Red only nets you access to user-submitted videos. As the video hosting company puts it, “YouTube Red benefits won’t work on YouTube videos that you pay to view, such as paid channels, movie rentals, and pay-per-view purchases.” This gives the service a unique, grassroots edge against the competition, but one that wears a little dull if you’re looking to watch the latest Hollywood flicks for no additional charge.
US viewers will be able to try YouTube Red on for size with a free one-month trial when it launches October 28.
