New to YouTube Premium? Don’t miss out on these features

With a YouTube Premium membership, you get a variety of premium features and benefits to help you get the most out of your viewing experience. But as a new member, you may be overwhelmed by all the new features offered to you. Here are some of the top premium features you shouldn’t miss.

However, play videos at any time

The biggest benefit of your YouTube Premium subscription is the ability to watch videos the way you want without ads. You can download all your videos to your library and watch them offline. You can also go a step further and explore Smart Downloads, which allows YouTube to add the recommended videos to your library and download them for you.

To enable Smart Downloads, tap your profile picture in the YouTube app. Go to Settings > Downloads > Smart Downloads and check “Enable Smart Downloads.” You can also adjust your download quality here.

Watching videos isn’t limited to just when you’re not connected to the internet. With your YouTube Premium subscription, you can also use the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature, which allows you to play your videos and leave the YouTube app. You can complete an entire video essay and scroll through your Instagram feed at the same time, which is a multitasking dream.

Device integration

Smart device integration also lets you watch YouTube videos wherever you want. Beyond the YouTube app, you can stream videos on any device that has access to YouTube. This includes all smart TVs, gaming consoles and streaming devices that allow you to log in to the YouTube app.

If your web browser supports YouTube, you can also use all Premium benefits via a web browser. Supported browsers include:

1. Google Chrome

2. safari

3. Microsoft Edge

4. opera

5. Mozilla Firefox

For audio, you can use Chromecast or Google Cast connected audio devices to play music from the YouTube Music app. To play videos via Chromecast, sign in to YouTube Premium on a mobile device and click the Chromecast icon. You can now browse, select and watch videos on your phone on a larger screen.

Control how you watch videos

Aside from ad-free playback and downloads, your YouTube Premium membership gives you the ability to do something really handy when you pause a video you’re watching. You can easily resume playback where you left off, not only on your original device but also on any device you have signed in with your Premium account. This seamless integration follows on from the smart device integration you get with your membership.

Another thing you can do with your premium membership is jump to important parts of a video when you fast forward a video (by double-tapping). This skip forward button allows you to skip to the next point in a video, which is where most users usually skip to.

Premium Jump is not available for all YouTube videos. It’s also not available for YouTube shorts, premieres, live streams, and licensed content like music, movies, and shows.

Another premium benefit you can take advantage of while watching videos is the ability to queue videos. Although it is a feature that you can only use on your mobile and tablet devices, it is a good addition to your uninterrupted viewing experience.

You can create a queue and add videos without pausing or closing the video you are currently watching.

To further customize the way you watch YouTube videos, you can access a range of premium settings such as: Such as video quality settings, background playback, and downloads, by going to Settings > Additional Settings > Premium Controls in the mobile app.

Chat with your favorite artists

A hidden benefit of your YouTube Premium membership that you may not be aware of is access to exclusive content. These premium afterparties are essentially live streams featuring your favorite artists, where you can also watch a video feed and live chat.

As a Premium Member, you can not only watch these afterparties and live chats as they are streamed, but also access the archive of these afterparties. You can watch replays of previous streams that you may have missed. If you want to view and delete your live chat messages, you can do so even if you cancel your YouTube Premium subscription.

Stream your favorite movies and music

This one surprised me. When I first got my YouTube Premium subscription, I expected just the usual: ad-free videos and downloads. However, with your monthly subscription you also benefit from free, ad-free films. Although the options are limited, you still get a good collection to browse.

The easiest way to access your free movies is to go to your profile > your premium benefits and scroll to “Discover your next favorite movie.” From here you can discover a number of free movies. You can also go to Discover > Movies & Series and browse the extensive catalog to select free movies and series.

With your Premium subscription you can also get the YouTube Music app and enjoy ad-free songs that you can download, sort into playlists and create radio stations from. Your music preferences on YouTube are neatly categorized into a library that you can use like any other music streaming app. You can also use samples in the YouTube Music app to discover new music beyond the videos you watch, among other interesting things.

Treat yourself to a badge

Another benefit you get as a Premium Member is building your collection of Premium Badges. You’ll earn badges for a number of milestones you achieve as a Premium member, such as listener badges for the number of hours you’ve streamed music. You can also earn badges for the number of afterparties you watch, your PiP usage, and the number of videos you download.

To view your Premium Badges, click your profile picture in the app > Your Premium Benefits > Premium Badges.

You will no longer receive badges associated with Premium benefits when you pause your watch history, and you will also lose access to previously earned badges when you reset your history.

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If you use the individual YouTube Premium plan, you will pay a subscription of $13.99/month. But there are a few other plans you can try if you want to save money:

1. Annual plan: $139.99/year

2. Family Plan: $22.99/month (up to five family members over 13)

3. Student Plan: $7.99/month