YouTube announced earlier this week that it will soon introduce the ability to watch videos offline through its mobile apps.
According to the official blog post, it will launch in November, but no specific date was given.
Today, an email was sent out to YouTube partners which helps explain how the offline feature will work.
AllThingsD got their hands on an official memo, and here is the condensed version:
On the YouTube app, users will be able, through “add to device” functionality available on videos and playlists, to designate certain content that they can watch for a short period of time when an internet connection is unavailable. With this, if a user experiences a loss of connectivity, they will still be able to watch the videos that they’ve added to their device for a limited period of up to 48 hours. If the device is offline for more than 48 hours the content cannot be viewed offline until the device reconnects. Once connected, the offline window refreshes and the viewer is able to watch the content again.
From the watch page through the “add to device” functionality feature, viewers will be able to designate certain content that they can watch for a short period of time when they do not have connectivity. At the time when the user no longer has connectivity, they will be able to watch the videos and playlists they have added to their device by accessing the videos through an “on device” section of their guide.
For partners monetizing their content, in-stream ads will still run, and once a user reconnects to the internet, a video’s view count will be updated.
Purchased or rented videos will not be viewable offline, and no other ad formats are supported.
YouTube videos will automatically receive offline support, but the functionality can be easily disabled by the video creator.
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