Anyone can download videos off YouTube now, not just paying subscribers - albeit with caveats

One of the key features for YouTube Premium subscribers is now available for free users it seems, in a rather surprising move.

This isn't something Google has announced, either, but rather the fact that everyone can now download YouTube videos for viewing offline later emerged via a Reddit post (highlighted by Android Police).

As you can see in the post above from the YouTube subreddit (from the 'Dude_Who_Does_Things') it's possible for everyone to download videos, but the catch is the resolution is restricted so you won't get a very good quality clip.

As shown in the screenshot provided as evidence for the new feature, the Redditor was only offered choices to download in 360p or 144p (medium and low quality respectively).

Of course, on a smartphone, 360p may not look so bad, but it's not going to be all that impressive on a monitor (or indeed a TV), that's for sure.

Android Police confirms that the download feature does indeed work for those who aren't Premium subscribers, although there's a further limitation in that you don't have unlimited downloads, either.

On top of that, there's bad news for those who use YouTube for viewing a ton of music videos (like me), because those are out of bounds too - music content remains exclusive to subscribers for downloading.

Still, even with some weighty caveats, this is clearly a useful change of heart from Google, assuming the situation stays this way, and this isn't some kind of move testing the waters with a limited audience.