YouTube Go lets you watch and share YouTube videos while you’re offline

Google has announced a cool new YouTube product for those on data caps and slow networks. It’s YouTube Go, and it’s essentially YouTube with supercharged offline access.

You may be a bit confused on why it exists considering YouTube already allows you to save videos for viewing offline. What YouTube Go does differently is allow people to select the video quality they want before downloading depending on their current needs. This means you can download higher quality videos while you’re at home, and if you just want to queue up a few while you’re waiting at a train station you can select the smaller file size to ensure the files download quicker.

You can preview a video before downloading it.

Beyond that, the app also allows you to share those videos with friends, even when you don’t have an internet connection. It uses Bluetooth to establish the ad-hoc connection that’ll essentially let you send a video file to whoever you’re sharing with.

The technology isn’t new, but this is a great example of adapting old tech for new generation needs. The service will be launched first in India during a testing period, after which it’ll spread to more markets which could use the app. Indian users interested in testing it can sign up right here.