Major changes are coming to YouTube, with the Google-owned video platform releasing dozens of new features and tweaks to its core product beginning Tuesday.
Those changes include some options that users have been asking for like sleep timers and playback control, as well as UI tweaks, badges, and new playlist features. YouTube is also continuing to roll out new generative artificial intelligence functionality, with the updates also giving users the ability to use gen AI to create thumbnails for playlists.
YouTube says that the update, which will see changes to YouTube’s desktop, mobile app and TV experiences, includes more than two dozen changes, with the updates rolling out starting today and continuing over the next few weeks.
Among the big additions to the product are a sleep timer, which will let users set a timer to pause videos after a certain amount of viewing. The sleep timer was tested earlier this year for Premium members, and will come to the YouTube mobile app. And YouTube — which has become arguably the biggest podcasting platform in the world — is adding customizable playback speeds to both its desktop and mobile experience.
Playback speeds are particularly popular among podcast listeners, who may prefer to speed up the video slightly to take in the conversation more quickly, and the new product will be customizable to 0.05 increments.
On the playlist front, YouTube will add collaborative playlists, with users able to vote and rank their favorite videos on desktop, mobile, and TV devices, as well as in YouTube Music. And users will be able to create custom playlist thumbnails using generative AI, or by uploading their own photos.
Other additions include badges for users, a new miniplayer (letting users resize and move the video player), visual improvements, and a new UI for YouTube Shorts on TV screens.
In fact, the changes include many of the major updates YouTube announced last month for its TV app, including cinematic previews meant to make the YouTube experience on TV feel as premium as apps from video services like Netflix.
YouTube has traditionally rolled out updates to its product every October, giving it ample time to make sure everything is running smoothly before the peak holiday buying season, when ad impressions are at their highest.
