Google is leading the technology industry with offline data options. Currently, users can download videos offline with YouTube Red, and roadmaps with Google Maps.

The Internet in the United States is available in most areas, but for developing countries, having Internet access is limited. Even within the United States, mobile Web users continue to find ways to limit their data being used on smartphone devices.

To help mobile Web users manage their data, this article helps show the benefits to offline data.

One of the major differences when selecting a smartphone is the amount of memory the device can hold. IOS/Apple devices has a fixed amount of memory. Several of the Android devices have the option to add external memory.

The iPhone 7 Plus has options for 32 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB of memory. If you find yourself not wanting to have a large amount of offline data, then an iPhone would work better. If you see yourself wanting to download a lot of music and videos to have ready to consume, Android devices may be a better option.

When I talked with another editor about covering offline data, he mentioned that he would usually use it for podcasts and videos. After I downloaded the YouTube Music application, I realized that the app works best for putting together music playlists for offline listening, and that the YouTube app works better to download offline data like short films, television shows, podcasts and a wider range of content.

A key point to downloading and storing data on Android smartphones, is to go into the settings, and change the data to download to the external drive. Android users can pickup additional storage drives, but IOS users would be limited by their internal storage. With 256 GB, that would take care of a large amount of movie clips and songs, but with Android devices, I find it more valuable to provide external storage.

YouTube Red

YouTube has recently released a monthly subscription option for users to access videos ad-free, and connect with content offline. The company has noted:

• YouTube app: Save videos or playlists to watch offline when you aren’t connected — on the road, at the gym, or on your next camping trip.

• YouTube Music app: Set a storage limit and audio-only settings, and the app will save a personalized selection of music.

The number of video or audio files you can save depends on your mobile device’s amount of free space and storage capacity, as well as the size and quality of the saved videos. You can adjust the maximum amount of space to use for offline content and see the amount of space currently used by saved files. Videos will remain offline for up to 30 days. Some content may not be available offline when you reconnect to the internet due to content restrictions from video creators.

Saving videos offline is available only on the YouTube Android and iOS mobile apps on supported smartphones.

Google Maps

Google Maps has recently made it more efficient for users to connect with spatial content with offline data.

Mobile Internet users at times will have limited service or just want to save on data, they have the option to toggle to “Wi-fi only” to use Google Maps entirely offline on Android.

Maps are also available to download and view in area without mobile data.

One of the recent new elements to Google Maps is the 3D option to view major cities, and top travel destinations around the globe. This option comes in handy when researching road conditions, travel planning and real estate shopping online.

Watch over two videos on how offline data works with mobile applications.