For most people living in Africa, accessing YouTube is a painstakingly slow task given the slow speed of Internet connection on the continent. In an address to these challenges facing users with slow Internet connection, the YouTube has rolled out YouTube Offline.
As the name suggests, YouTube Offline is a new feature by the video sharing platform that allows users to save YouTube videos and view them later while they are offline.
Despite the widespread and fast adoption of smartphones across the African continent, the cost of Internet access remains restrictive to many people. More often than not, people can only find fast, reliable Internet at their place of work or established institutions, and would count yourself lucky if get the password to their Wi-Fi.
In such scenarios, users can go online to YouTube and save videos for offline view within the YouTube app on their smartphones. This feature is available for a selected number of videos, where users can tap the offline icon and view the video later on. The feature is currently available to users in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Once the video has been saved offline, users can view the videos within the YouTube app with or without an Internet connection; but only up to 48 hours. This move is certainly going to improve the number of views on YouTube by users in the mentioned countries. This feature, however, does not include music videos, but you can find videos on unboxing, local shows, and movies to view offline.
From the users’ point of view, it is also going to reduce the frustration users experience while viewing YouTube videos on slow Internet connections. The video sharing social network is also going a step further to get more users in world markets with slow Internet connections. YouTube is working on various ways to make its video content more accessible and affordable to its growing market within the African continent.
