Indian Mobile Users to Get YouTube Videos at 480p Till 14 April

The changes were first announced last week and users in India are seeing them now on their mobile devices.

Majority of YouTube users in India stream content from mobile devices.

(Photo: The Quint)

Last week, YouTube announced that it will be making all its videos available to users at 480 pixels or standard definition across the globe, which can be changed manually to other quality.

But that’s not the only change people will be seeing on the popular platform, as the company is also maxing out videos on mobile networks in India at 480p resolution.

And unlike the broadband users, you can’t switch to HD or UHD resolution for videos on mobile. The changes are now visible to the end-users on Android and iOS, who’ve shared their bewilderment on the social media in the past few days.

The new change has been made in accordance with the three-way lockdown in the country, and according to YouTube, the quality limit will be applicable until 14 April.

Many people have pointed out the restriction is limited to mobile-only (both on data and Wi-FI), as the settings can be tweaked if you’re watching videos on PC or Mac.

The streaming limitation was first supposed to be applicable till 31 March, but with the extended lockdown announced last week, the streaming giant is adhering to the changes.

YouTube caters to billions of users on its platform who stream videos across multiple formats up to 4K (UHD) resolution. And since most of its users in India are on mobile, so limiting video quality was an expected call. The company says limiting streaming quality will ensure people can make sure the internet bandwidth doesn’t go overload.

YouTube followed Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar last week to reduce its streaming quality, as internet networks across the world face the brunt of heavy strain owing to the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.