Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube has announced a bunch of new features and improvements for YouTube across all platforms.
- The company is rolling out a new miniplayer, improved landscape browsing, and a sleep timer on the mobile app.
- The platform is also getting fine-tunable playback controls, custom playlist thumbnail support, and a few interface improvements for the TV app.
YouTube rolled out support for custom playlist thumbnails last month, but the feature wasn’t exactly what users wanted. It only allowed users to create playlist thumbnails using AI instead of letting them upload custom images for their playlists, leaving many playlist curators disappointed. Fortunately, YouTube has listened to user feedback and is rolling out custom image uploads for playlist thumbnails along with a host of other highly requested features and improvements.
YouTube says the custom thumbnail feature now lets you upload images from your camera roll and personalize them with text, filters, or stickers. In addition, the platform is adding a feature that makes it easier to collaborate with friends and create new playlists using a shareable link or QR code. Later this year, YouTube will add a new voting system and corresponding filter to playlists, allowing users to vote on videos in playlists and make the best video in the playlist easier to discover.
Along with the playlist improvements, YouTube is adding fine-tunable playback speed support that allows for adjustments in 0.05-second increments, a revamped miniplayer for the mobile app that you can resize and move around while browsing other videos, and a new Sleep Timer that will automatically pause videos after a predefined time. YouTube tested the Sleep Timer feature with YouTube Premium subscribers earlier this year, and it’s now rolling out to all users on the mobile app.
For creators and artists, YouTube is introducing new badges that will let viewers celebrate milestones, like being the first set of paid members of a creator’s channel, correctly completing quizzes, or being a top listener of an artist on YouTube Music. These badges will roll out to users over the coming weeks and will be available in the “You” tab on the mobile app.
Lastly, the YouTube app for TVs is getting a new UI for Shorts and subtle interface changes that should give videos a more cinematic feel. These changes join the immersive channel pages for YouTube on TV that rolled out last month.
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