Preload YouTube Videos on Android to Save Battery & Bandwidth

With the latest update of YouTube for Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) Android devices, a user can now preload videos from his Subscribe and Watch Later list when he is connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot and the phone is in charging state. This feature is amazing if you love watching videos while you travel and would like to cut down on your data charges and battery consumption.

So let’s see how we can enable preload on YouTube.

Enabling Preload on YouTube for Android

Step 1: Make sure you are running the latest version of YouTube app on your device and launch it. If you are not already logged in, sign in to your YouTube account from the app and open the app settings from the menu.

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Step 2: If you are running ICS or a later Android version on your device, you will see the option of Preloading  in YouTube settings. Tap on it to configure the settings.

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Step 3: Check the videos you would like to preload on the device and save the settings.

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That’s all, the checked videos will be preloaded in the background and saved on your phone’s SD card whenever the conditions are met. The video tiles that are preloading in the background will have a white download arrow on the corner of their tile. When the video is preloaded fully, this arrow will turn green.

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The point to note here is that preloading will cost you some of your phone’s storage space, but if you are on a limited 3G plan with a terrible battery life, it will be worth it.

Last updated on 03 February, 2022

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