YouTube Premium adds 1080p video, SharePlay, and queuing for iPhone users

YouTube Premium gives subscribers access to ad-free videos, the ability to download videos for offline viewing, and access to YouTube Music Premium. 

But starting Monday, the company is rolling out new features for its subscribers that range from adding the ability to control your video queue on a mobile device to an upgrade to video quality on the iPhone. 

Also: How to limit screen time on YouTube Kids 

YouTube announced five new features in a blog post Monday morning. 

The mobile queueing feature is exactly what it sounds like. Premium subscribers can create what’s effectively a playlist of YouTube videos, with full control over what video or videos are played, and the order of said videos.

There’s also a new continue watching feature that’s coming to YouTube Premium that will allow you to start watching a video on the web, pause it, and then pick up exactly where you left off in the Android or iOS YouTube app. Personally, this is a feature I’d love to see in basic YouTube, forgoing the need for a subscription. 

Premium subscribers were already able to watch YouTube videos with fellow Android users via Google Meet, but the company now plans on slowly rolling out support for Apple’s SharePlay feature that uses FaceTime to let iOS users watch videos with each other. I’m told the rollout for SharePlay will take place in the coming weeks. 

YouTube Premium now also includes a smart downloads feature that will automatically download recommended YouTube videos to your library when you’re connected to Wi-Fi. Netflix has had a similar feature for a while now, and I’ve found it to be very useful in managing my downloaded library for travel. 

Also: How to download YouTube videos for free: Plus two other ways 

Finally, YouTube is rolling out an improved 1080p video experience by using an “enhanced bitrate” version for 1080p HD video. The update is coming first to iOS, followed later by the web. YouTube’s announcement notes that improvements will be most notable in videos with lots of details and motion. 

YouTube Premium starts at $11.99 a month if you sign up on the website. Signing up through the iOS app increases the price to $15.99 a month, likely to cover the cut that Apple takes from App Store subscriptions.