YouTube now lets you play 4K support videos: Here’s what it means

YouTube has brought in 4K support for Android users which basically boils down to users can now stream videos in 2160p or 4K. For Android users, Google had already set the resolution to 1440p even when the video was uploaded in 4K.

Android users have been able to stream videos up to 1080p or Full HD because that is the standard resolution on smartphones. However, that is going to change now as YouTube will now have 4K support. This feature was already available on iOS.

According to XDADevelopers, Google is adding a new streaming option to YouTube on Android devices via a server-side update. This means that phones that have support for 1080p or 720o can now watch videos in higher resolutions of up to 4K and HDR. iOS got HDR IN 2019 and 4K was rolled out with iOS 14.

A Reddit user Liskowskyy posted a screenshot of the YouTube app with a 2160p streaming option regardless of the screen resolution. The new video resolution was spotted in different versions of the YouTube app on Android. A Reddit user pointed out, “YouTube is sending you the amount of data needed to stream 4k. As a result, the image will look sharper/have higher fidelity, even on a 1080 or 720p screen with a smaller resolution. Though it’s probably very hard to tell the difference on a small phone screen.”

He further said that he can spot the new streaming option on the high end as well as the budget phones. “Every phone I own seems to be having the same thing, it's either a feature or a big ole bug. I can even play 1080p videos on my A01 which has a 720p screen,” he said.