YouTube enters App Store’s top grossing charts thanks to YouTube Red subscriptions

YouTube’s plans to convert a portion of its user base to a subscription-based, ad-free service known as YouTube Red appears to be gaining traction, TechCrunch reported. 

The company’s iOS application is now ranked as one of the App Store’s Top 10 Grossing apps on iPhone, following the launch of YouTube Red in late October. This indicates that a number of users who initially signed up for the free, one-month trial have since converted to paying users, as that trial ended.

YouTube Red is YouTube’s ambitious effort to generate a new revenue stream for both the site itself and its creators. Instead of watching videos peppered with ads, YouTube Red users get ad-free videos, as well as other premium features, like the ability to save videos to watch offline and to play videos in the background. That latter item makes YouTube more competitive with rival streaming music services as users can listen to music via YouTube while using other apps.