What you need to know
- YouTube has launched many new features for its video and audio streaming platforms.
- As part of the update, users can invite or collaborate playlists with friends and family using a unique link or QR code.
- People using playlists on the platform can use their preferred photos as thumbnails.
- Other features include creator badges and new UI for Shorts on TV, among others.
YouTube has announced several new features coming to the streaming platform alongside YouTube Music. Google notes that users can expect over two dozen improvements in updates that include the platform on the web, mobile, and TVs as well.
In the announcement blog post, these updates comprise some "highly requested features"—like fine-tunable playback speed (with 0.05 increments), improved landscape browsing experience, updates to thumbnails, and some visual improvements.
YouTube's mobile app now has a new mini-player. Browsing for other videos while already watching a video should be a lot smoother now, as users can now even resize and play with it by moving it around across all sides of the screen.
YouTube playlists are also improved with the latest release. People can invite others to their playlists using a "special link" or a QR code for easy additions. The capability is said to be coming soon to TV as well.
YouTube and YouTube Music already allow users to create custom thumbnails for their playlists with the help of generative AI. This ability is now expanding as users can even add their preferred photos by picking from their camera roll to give it a personal touch. Personalization can include adding text to the image, filters, or stickers.
Furthermore, friends in the playlists can also vote on videos to curate the best ones from the playlist. It is also believed to be beneficial for creators as they can have their viewers rank their content. YouTube states this feature will roll out later this year.
Besides, YouTube is also introducing badges for the first time on its mobile and YouTube Music apps. They can badge their favorite creators for the content they love. Similarly, users can also earn badges "for being a top listener of their favorite artist or having a creator heart your comment."
YouTube is also gaining Sleep Timer, which allows users to set a timer to "automatically pause videos after a certain duration of time." The feature was initially tested for Premium subscribers; however, it is said to be available for all users starting Tuesday (Oct 12).
YouTube's TV experience will also receive some improvements with the new update, and visual changes can be seen on the web and mobile. For instance, watching Shorts on TV should be more seamless, as a new UI offers "continued interaction with the content."
YouTube also states that all these new updates are the result of consumers' feedback and highly requested features, as mentioned above. Users across Android devices, iOS, the web, and TV should be seeing these new changes starting this week.
