YouTube Music, Google’s widely-used music streaming platform, has recently introduced a new feature allowing offline music downloads for its desktop website, enhancing user convenience. This update aligns the web experience with capabilities already available on the mobile app, enabling users to save their favorite songs and playlists for offline playback. After undergoing testing, the feature was officially rolled out on March 29th.
Although not universally available to all users at this point, some have reported receiving notifications inviting them to explore this functionality within their Library tab, according to a report by 9to5Google.
The process of saving music for offline listening has been streamlined. Users can simply visit the album or single page they desire and click on the download button, located between the “Save to library” and three-dot menu options. Previously limited to the mobile app, this feature was not accessible to desktop users, leaving them without this convenience. Now, akin to the mobile experience, downloaded content on the web will be organized in a dedicated “Downloads” section within the library, facilitating easy access and management.
Offline downloads on the web platform contribute to YouTube Music’s 10-device download limit, which should suffice for most users. However, similar to the mobile app, downloaded content will expire if a device fails to connect to the internet at least once every 30 days. This addition is particularly noteworthy considering the absence of native desktop applications for YouTube Music. Previously, Chromebook users had to resort to downloading the Android app as a workaround.
While it is anticipated that downloading songs will require a YouTube Premium subscription, it remains unclear whether podcast downloads will be included in this feature. Compatible with Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera browsers, this update aims to enhance the accessibility and functionality of YouTube Music’s web platform.
