YouTube Music was launched earlier last year alongside YouTube Premium. It is nowhere close to the likes of competing services such as Spotify and Apple Music just yet, but it gets the job done. YouTube Music already let you download songs which could then be played offline and starting today, it will be easier to keep listening to your favourite tracks when offline. The app is getting a new feature called Smart Downloads that will automatically download up to 500 songs you've clicked the "like" button on (via The Verge). The feature will be available on Android devices and will come to iOS users at a later date.

The selection also includes the Offline mixtape and songs from your Liked Songs playlist and your other favourite playlists and albums. The app also lets you set a limit for how much music that'll be downloaded. The process only happens at night and when your phone is connected to Wi-Fi. The only people who stand to benefit from the feature are people who have a diverse taste in music that is strewn across several albums and can't be bothered to download each track individually. After all, it isn't that hard to manually download tracks that you really like for offline consumption.

The idea of Smart Downloads is being increasingly adopted by apps such as Netflix which can save the next episode of whatever you’re watching so it’s ready to be viewed offline. Netflix takes it a step ahead and even deletes episodes that you've already watched. Maybe even YouTube Music will implement something similar that'll replace an older song with a newer one that you liked.

The feature is currently available only to YouTube Music Premium subscribers. Users on one of the older, bundled, grandfathered YouTube/Play Music plans can also avail the benefits. It isn't clear when this will go live just yet, so keep an eye out for any Play Store updates for YouTube Music in the coming days.