{"id":107313,"date":"2026-02-25T10:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=107313"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:45:24","slug":"youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube Premium Lite adds background play and downloads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 style=\"user-select: auto;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff; user-select: auto;\">YouTube Premium Lite, the affordable option for (mostly) ad-free watching, is getting two major additions.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday, YouTube <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.youtube\/news-and-events\/youtube-premium-lite-background-play-downloads\/\">announced<\/a> that it would be adding two exciting features to its Premium Lite subscription service. The platform has started rolling out background play and downloads to everywhere that the affordable subscription tier is available. This means users can continue playing YouTube videos while opening another app, as well as download videos to enjoy later when you go offline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/streaming\/883316\/youtube-premium-lite-background-play-offline-downloads\">The Verge<\/a> notes, YouTube Premium Lite previously lacked these features when it <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-expands-to-more-countries\/\">landed in the US<\/a> last year. Following feedback from users, the company has decided to give the people what they want. &#8221;\u00a0to more markets\u200b and heard feedback about wanting these additional features included in the service. \u200bWe&#8217;re excited for today&#8217;s update and to continue testing and building products that best meet our users\u2019 needs.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These additions make Premium Lite a much more attractive option. You could play a workout video on YouTube, while having your interval timer app open on your phone. Or, you could catch up with the latest videos from your favourite content creators while camping out in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal. Adding these features turns Premium Lite into a more seamless and well-rounded subscription service that feels a little more worth the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/premiumlite_q126_final.width-1000.format-webp-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-107315 lazyload\"\/><figcaption><em>Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.youtube\/news-and-events\/youtube-premium-lite-background-play-downloads\/\">YouTube<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>YouTube Premium Lite costs just $7.99 per month (or \u00a37.99 per month in England, Scotland and Wales), and offers an ad-free experience on most videos across categories including gaming, fashion, beauty, and news. However, users on this service will still get ads when watching music videos, which is still a considerable limitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of this, YouTube points out that, for a true ad-free experience and complete access to YouTube Music Premium, the full YouTube Premium subscription remains the best bet. This will cost individuals $13.99 per month, families $22.99 per month, and students $7.99 per month (verification required). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, YouTube Premium Lite is available in the following locations: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/\">Distribute your music to YouTube Music and all other major streaming platforms around the world with RouteNote. Sign up today to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>YouTube Premium Lite, the affordable option for (mostly) ad-free watching, is getting two major additions. Yesterday, YouTube announced that it would be adding two exciting features to its Premium Lite subscription service. The platform has started rolling out background play and downloads to everywhere that the affordable subscription tier is available. This means users can continue playing YouTube videos while opening another app, as well as download videos to enjoy later when you go offline. As The Verge notes, YouTube Premium Lite previously lacked these features when it landed in the US last year. Following feedback from users, the company&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":107316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6628],"tags":[28137],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>YouTube Premium Lite adds background play and downloads - RouteNote Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"YouTube Premium Lite is adding two major features that will make the service a more attractive option. Learn more here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"YouTube Premium Lite adds background play and downloads - RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"YouTube Premium Lite is adding two major features that will make the service a more attractive option. Learn more here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T10:45:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T10:45:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rubaitul-azad-nnFBEYTt77E-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"14467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"9744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Johanna Campbell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RouteNote\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"RouteNote\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"RouteNote Blog\",\"description\":\"The World of Digital Music - Distribution - Stores and Free Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rubaitul-azad-nnFBEYTt77E-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rubaitul-azad-nnFBEYTt77E-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":14467,\"height\":9744},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/\",\"name\":\"YouTube Premium Lite adds background play and downloads - RouteNote Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/youtube-premium-lite-adds-background-play-and-downloads\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-25T10:45:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T10:45:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"YouTube Premium Lite is adding two major features that will make the service a more attractive option. 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