YouTube have officially launched their offline viewing mode in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Yemen and Algeria.

YouTube revealed in a blog post for Google Arabia that offline viewing would now be available in those 5 countries, allowing mobile users to save videos to watch later, without an internet connection. This comes two years after Google announced the offline-viewing mode which has been slowly rolled out to various regions across the globe since.

According to the post there has been an increase in smartphone use in the middle east however a lack of high-speed Internet networks has restricted the potential use of these devices online. In addition internet prices can be a lot more expensive where Egyptian Streets report that in Egypt an internet connection has an average cost of $16.83 per mbps, compared to the global average of $5.58 per mbps.

Google took it upon themselves to indirectly help certain middle eastern countries explore the internet a little easier with offline videos, reducing constant buffering and sidelining the lack of freely available wi-fi as in many western countries.

YouTube product manager Matthew Darby said of the introduction: “Starting today, the majority of YouTube videos in Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Libya and Yemen will become available for people to view offline, from popular talk shows to local comedy. Making these popular videos available for offline playback will help more people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth buffer-free version of their favourite content.”

On their blog post YouTube say: “Offline playback is just a start. We’re working on even more ways to make video content more affordable and accessible to our growing base of mobile users in the region.”

To enjoy videos offline users simply have to tap the ‘offline icon’ on a YouTube video when watching on a smartphone. Once you’ve saved a video they can be played as many times as you like over 48 hours, after which they will be removed from your app.

Unfortunately offline-viewing in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Yemen and Algeria will not include music videos.