When it comes to watching YouTube videos on our mobile devices, the experience may not always be the best due to our connectivity. Whether you’re using an Android smartphone, 4G LTE, or even a tablet with a solid WiFi connection versus 3G, it can make or break the experience.
We were all there. Trying to enjoy the latest funny video on YouTube or a music video on our Galaxy S4 or Android smartphone when the dreaded loading circle shows up and kills it halfway. It’s frustrating, but thankfully a brand new update to YouTube today gives you, the user, control over quality and resolution.
Earlier YouTube on Android only had one setting to toggle HD video playback or leave YouTube to default auto quality acceptable for your device and connection. Fortunately, we now have tons of options for any scenario, and below we’ll show you how to access and modify them.
At a time when we almost always had 4G LTE or WiFi needed more options for video quality and playback, and this week Google has finally updated YouTube with exactly that. Below is a quick video showing users how to change YouTube quality and resolution on Android.
When you download or update the latest version YouTube app You can now fine-tune your video quality playback in the Google Play Store. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s something that has been missing from YouTube on Android for years.
Instructions
For those of you on a road trip, visiting family or at work who find themselves on a slow 3G (or worse) connection, you may want to adjust the quality of YouTube. This is great for those moments when 4G LTE or WiFi is unavailable and you don’t want to be interrupted by that dreadful load or buffering cycle we’re all familiar with.
Open the new YouTube app for Android and simply tap the three-dot menu button in the top right; you will now be greeted with a popup with three options above your video. One is Closed Caption, another Settings button (that’s what we want) and a Flag Video option as shown above. Select the middle settings button.
Go to the settings in the YouTube app and tap on the gear-shaped settings icon in the picture shown above, although it is unnecessary. This will open the “Quality” options and let you choose the resolution you want. Google allows 144p, 240p, 480, 720p, and select phones can also choose 1080p HD for video playback. Oddly enough, even my 1080p-capable Galaxy S4 doesn’t show 1080p as an option, but we hear most new devices show it.
For those of you who want a quick video description and visual guide to change YouTube video playback quality on Android, below is for you too.
This much. Thanks to the brand new YouTube app released today, users can instantly and quickly change the resolution and quality of YouTube playback. The automatic option is probably the best choice, just like with PCs, it lets YouTube and Google decide based on your connection. As long as you have 4G LTE or WiFi, it should theoretically default to 720 or 1080p, but if not, change it and change it yourself.
Third-party apps have been tweaking such settings for years, but now all you need is the official YouTube app on the Google Play Store and a little bit of knowledge. Enjoy!
