YouTube Introduces 1080p Premium Streaming Option for Android and Google TV
YouTube, the premier platform for community-generated long-format video content, is now extending its 1080p Premium quality enhanced bitrate streaming option to Android and Google TV users, after an initial testing phase that began earlier this year. Initially limited to iPhone and Apple TV users, this feature is currently being made available to a wider audience, which includes Android and Google TV users.
First spotted in February, the 1080p high-bitrate playback quality setting was designed exclusively for YouTube Premium subscribers. By April, Google had officially announced this feature. However, at that time, it was still exclusive to Apple devices. Google made it clear that the option would eventually arrive on Android and the web. Now, users have started noticing the feature on Android platforms, suggesting that Google is expanding its testing ahead of an official roll-out.
As part of the testing, the 1080p Premium streaming option has shown up on the Android app for some users, and also on the app for Android TV. This indicates that Google is widening its testing on Android platforms in anticipation of the official roll-out of the feature. It’s important to note that this new 1080p Premium streaming option doesn’t mean that the existing 1080p quality available to free-tier users has been degraded. Instead, YouTube has simply introduced a new, enhanced bitrate streaming option for Premium subscribers, without affecting the free tier quality settings.
There’s a common misunderstanding that this new 1080p tier is a way for YouTube to put the quality behind a paywall, but that’s not the case. The existing 1080p tier remains unchanged and free for everyone to use. This new 1080p Premium tier is an entirely new quality level that is exclusive to Premium subscribers.
Alongside these changes, Google has been updating the music streaming side of things with YouTube Music. A whole new user interface, drawing nostalgic cues from Google Play Music, has been introduced on the web for YouTube Music.
Conclusion
YouTube’s 1080p Premium streaming option is an additional feature for Premium subscribers, offering enhanced bitrate quality. It’s currently being tested on Android platforms and Google TV, with an official roll-out expected soon.
