YouTube adds video resolution controls, options on mobile app

A recent server-side update to the YouTube mobile app has now added further options beyond the incremental options and auto resolutions. Previously, the auto option was the only secondary selection you could make beyond the "advanced" or incremental options.

The brand-new video resolution controls allow you to prioritise "higher picture quality" which uses more data, or "data saver," which lowers the picture/video quality when streaming videos on the YouTube mobile app, 9To5Google reported.

When playing, the video quality will change depending on your network or data connection conditions according to the report.

The "higher picture quality" mode appears to cap out at 720p in our very brief testing. "Data saver" will top out at 480p, but can drop as low as the very lowest 144p resolution offered.

Users are also able to choose just which option they want the video streaming app to default to when playing mobile and Wi-Fi networks from within the YouTube app Settings section, the report said.

On top of that, when playing a video, you can always use the "Advanced" tab to choose a specific video playback resolution – from 144p up to 4K UHD, it added.