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Some of the new features on YouTube's upcoming major update have long been on user wish lists.
The upgrade, which is applicable to all platforms, is being released gradually, as detailed in a blog post and a recent Creator Insider video. Therefore, YouTube's more than 2.5 billion viewers will soon be able to access these enhancements whether they use the YouTube or YouTube Music app on their mobile device, in a computer browser, or on their smart TV.
This update adds a sleep timer, a long-requested feature. This functions just as you would anticipate from other apps, allowing you to select a specific time between 10 and an hour (or until the conclusion of the current video) to continue playing while you attempt to get some rest. All users will now have access to this, which was previously only available to YouTube Premium subscribers. You'll probably need to keep the app open during the entire sleep timer because YouTube users who aren't paying can't lock their device while a video is playing.
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Additionally, the update aims to improve accessibility and user comfort by making YouTube in landscape mode easier to use with larger text and thumbnails. However, this update will be available to iPhone users later.
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The in-app miniplayer has undergone yet another, more obvious modification. With its flexible positioning and size, it's no longer constrained to a particular size and corner, which makes it simpler to change your playlists or find additional films to watch.
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Speaking of playlists, YouTube is now offering collaborative playlists that you can distribute by a QR code or link. After enlisting the help of some friends, you and your partners can select the top videos from the list using a new voting mechanism that will be available later this year. Additionally, you can use a custom image—either one you took yourself or one that was created by AI—as the playlist's thumbnail.
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YouTube has offered you a treat in the form of fine-tunable playback speed if you enjoy changing the speed of videos to make them go faster or slower. Instead of only having eight options between 0.25x and 2x speed, you may now choose speed in 0.05 increments.
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Additionally, if you were frustrated that your YouTube hours were not being acknowledged, the new Badges have fixed that issue. These are now awarded to users for reaching milestones or finishing certain objectives, such as getting a creator to reply to a remark you made on their video.
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YouTube's upcoming upgrades for smart TVs are arguably the most significant. You can now read the comments while you watch YouTube Shorts on your TV thanks to a big revamp of the app that includes new colors and an updated interface.
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(Image credit: Google) |
Google software upgrades have had a busy couple of days. Along with new anti-theft features for Android smartphones running Android 10 or later, the company recently released the first stable version of Android 15 for its Pixel phones. Additionally, the October Pixel Drop brought a number of new features to a variety of Google devices.