Ecco come funzioneranno i video offline di YouTube su Android

Abbiamo visto ieri che dal prossimo novembre dovrebbero arrivare i video offline su YouTube, ma ancora non conoscevamo bene i dettagli sui limiti e i meccanismi di questo futuro servizio.

In pratica sta a chi carica il video decidere se renderlo o meno disponibile per la visione offline, permesso che può essere concesso o revocato in qualsiasi momento (concesso di default), anche con controlli molto precisi, limitando la visione di ciascun video ad una specifica regione.

La visione offline contribuirà inoltre a far salire il conteggio totale di visite del video, e anche le relative pubblicità saranno mostrate, ma soprattutto il video dovrà essere visto entro 48 ore da quando lo selezioneremo per l'offline. L'idea è insomma quella di scaricare contenuti per un lungo viaggio, oppure per non rimanere a secco in metropolitana. Una volta che ci connetteremo ad internet comunque, la limitazione delle 48 ore sarà resettata.

Questo almeno è quanto traspare da una lettera che Google avrebbe inviato ai propri partner, e che un portavoce dell'azienda liquida come "specualtiva" (ma a noi sembra affidabile). Ve ne riportiamo un estratto qui sotto, per vostra consultazione.

Dear Partner,

We're writing to let you know about a new functionality that is currently scheduled to launch in November that impacts your content. This functionality is part of ongoing updates to give users more opportunities to enjoy videos and channels on YouTube mobile. The functionality is launching with all partners enabled but if you wish, you can disable now. Below is more information on the functionality and directions for how to disable.

What's happening
On the YouTube app, users will be able, through "add to device" functionality available on videos and playlists, to designate certain content that they can watch for a short period of time when an internet connection is unavailable. With this, if a user experiences a loss of connectivity, they will still be able to watch the videos that they've added to their device for a limited period of up to 48 hours. If the device is offline for more than 48 hours the content cannot be viewed offline until the device reconnects. Once connected, the offline window refreshes and the viewer is able to watch the content again.

How it works for viewers
From the watch page through the "add to device" functionality feature, viewers will be able to designate certain content that they can watch for a short period of time when they do not have connectivity. At the time when the user no longer has connectivity, they will be able to watch the videos and playlists they have added to their device by accessing the videos through an "on device" section of their guide.

How it works for partners: ads and viewcounts
Google in-stream ads will run in connection with the content, and views will be added to the total view count. Please note that other ad formats will not be supported, and, videos for rental or purchase will not be included in this functionality.

All content is enabled.

But you can disable now
By default all of your content will be enabled for the functionality, but you can disable now before the functionality launches. You will be able to disable by: partner, and available before launch, by asset, video and country. When you disable at the content owner or partner level, we apply this policy across all your videos, regardless of whether they are enabled at the asset, video and country level. To ensure all your content is disabled, you should disable at the content owner or partner level.