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YouTube Music for Android rolling out streaming and download quality controls

Back in August, Google officially announced audio streaming and download quality controls for YouTube Music. The company also announced that its latest streaming service would adopt a more consistent update cycle. This evening, the much sought after feature is finally beginning to roll out on Android.

Development of these basic options to select the quality of streaming music was first spotted in July during an APK Insight of version 2.39. Google only confirmed these feature last month, but is now beginning to introduce the functionality on YouTube Music for Android.

Heading to Settings, there is a new “Audio quality on mobile network” and “Audio quality on Wi-Fi” picker. Both have four options: Low, Normal, High, and Always High. The exact bitrate of each tier is not specified, but in line with similar controls long found in Google Play Music.

Meanwhile, the Downloads menu adds a new “Audio quality” option with Low, Normal, and High. A “Video quality” setting allows users to set the streaming service to only store audio.

Beyond an audiophile’s desire for the highest quality sound, adding this setting helps users better manage their data plans when streaming, as well as device storage when queuing songs for offline playback.

These features are long overdue, with a reload of YouTube Music for Android this afternoon enabling the new options. If not yet available, be sure and update to the latest version (2.49.57) via the Play Store. Additionally, try closing YouTube Music from the system Recents menu and reloading the app.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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