DIGITAL LIFE

YouTube ends the 480p bandwidth cap for Indian users

YouTube appears to have re-enabled HD streaming on its video platform its Indian userbase. The reversal comes several months after YouTube restricted videos to 480p in India, much to the annoyance of fans.
Earlier this year, it emerged that YouTube had limited its Indian users to watching content in 480p. YouTube set 480p to the default resolution in many other regions, but prevented those who live in India from streaming in anything higher than the lowly resolution. The change affected the Android and iOS versions of the YouTube app, although one could negate the limitation by watching YouTube through a VPN that routed their traffic through another country.
Nonetheless, many people were unhappy with YouTube's decision. However, there are now multiple reports of 1080p being available once again in India. Apparently, YouTube is only showing 1080p and beyond if it is streaming over a Wi-Fi connection. 1080p60 and 1440p60 have been enabled too, but not if you are on a mobile network connection.



It does not appear that YouTube has issued a statement on the matter, so it is unclear why the company has decided to re-enable resolutions above 480p. Additionally, it is not necessarily obvious why the change is limited to just Wi-Fi connections, and not mobile network ones too. Nonetheless, at least YouTube has put Indian users on par with other regions again.

Alex Alderson