Google and YouTube could be preparing to launch a new tiered access level to YouTube which is currently being referred to as ‘YouTube Plus’. This information comes by way of a new teardown of the latest version of the YouTube Android app by Android Police, where the teardown has revealed various references to the YouTube Plus feature. That is, references that have shown up in addition to the mention of the already available YouTube Red subscription tier suggesting the two are likely to be separate entities, at least to some degree.
Besides the mention of the actual Plus tier, there is next to no solid information on what the Plus version may offer or for that matter whether the Plus model will definitely arrive as an alternative to Red, and by the same token, whether it will be a better or worse (read more or less premium) version of Red. However, while the details are limited the language used at the string level suggests that like Red, Plus will allow subscribers to make use of background playing of YouTube videos. Likewise, due to the mention of background playback the suggestion being made is that the aspects not referenced may actually be representative of the difference between the Plus and Red levels. While this is a large assumption at present, if correct then it would suggest that unlike Red, Plus will not offer access to Google Play Music, offline playback, YouTube Red’s original content, and may be ad-supported.
Which again if correct, could suggest that if Plus coexists alongside the standard version of YouTube and YouTube Red, then it may be positioned in between the two. Possibly even as a more affordable subscription tier (compared to Red) which provides some additional (Plus) features beyond what is offered by the standard YouTube model. One which could be offered at a discounted rate due to the feature being subsidized by ads. Unfortunately that is largely the extent to the information provided via the latest teardown and all of these details not only remain unconfirmed, but also the subject of speculation and by association, are subject to change, or being incorrect in the first place.