Have you ever found yourself without Internet, but wanting to watch YouTube? Well, there are a few unofficial ways to download YouTube videos, but Google will soon offer an option of its own.

The YouTube team announced today that it will soon be rolling out an update that will allow people using the mobile YouTube app to download videos directly to their device for offline viewing. The videos will not be theirs to keep, however, as the downloaded versions will only be available to watch for a limited time. According to a report from All Things D, that “limited time” is 48 hours.

So, how does this affect content creators who make a living off of YouTube videos? All Google will say at the moment is that the feature will allow fans to enjoy videos without being interrupted by a lack of Internet service. That’s where All Things D comes in by saying that ads will still play on the downloaded videos, but doesn’t say whether or not those ads will count towards the revenue earned by creators. I’m going to assume, however, that Google will keep track of how many offline plays a video has earned and apply those ad views to a creator’s payout.

The YouTube team isn’t saying much else about the offline viewing feature as of yet, but it’s scheduled to launch in November. Before then, the team says that they’ll update the official YouTube blog with more details for both creators and fans. When that happens, we’ll bring you all the details.

[Image: YouTube Help/YouTube]