YouTube defaults video quality to 480p worldwide to save data

Last week, YouTube said that the default video quality is 480p worldwide to save bandwidth as more and more people watch videos in different countries. Video playback starts at 480p but can be manually changed to a higher streaming resolution.

However, in India, the company limits the quality of streaming to your phone by 480p – while using WiFi and mobile data. The development that XDA Developer first noticed will arrive in the middle of a 21-day closing period.

This change was in line with the decision taken by the digital industry last week to limit video quality to standard resolution (SD) on cellular networks. However, Google said the limitation is by device type. So you cannot see high definition videos on any network.

According to the company, it has also “temporarily removed the user’s ability to manually select 480p resolution manually on mobile phones”.

India is arguably YouTube’s largest customer base, with over 285 million active users every month. With more and more people confined to their homes, Internet use has increased in the country, especially in social media and video streaming applications.

To that end, WhatsApp is now limiting the status update videos to 15 seconds in India to save bandwidth.

Netflix and Amazon Prime, like streaming companies, have also highlighted the quality of their video in several countries due to the corona virus pandemic.