YouTube adds more video quality settings to its mobile apps | Engadget

YouTube is rolling out an update for its iOS and Android apps that expands the number of video quality options at your disposal. The “higher picture quality” setting will make videos look as sharp as possible. However, it’ll soak up more data than other options. On the flipside, the “data saver” setting will help you stretch out your data allowance but it comes with the tradeoff of poorer visual fidelity.

These settings join a couple of existing ones. “Auto,” surprisingly enough, automatically adjusts the video quality depending on how zippy your internet connection is. You can also manually select the resolution up to 4K HDR, though you’ll need to do so for each video you watch. There’s no global setting for a specific resolution in the apps.

YouTube added the video quality settings as a server-side update, according to 9to5 Google. You won’t necessarily have to install the latest version of the app to access them, but it’s worth doing so anyway for optimal performance.