YouTube Premium Adds High-Quality Audio for Music Tracks, Faster Playback Speeds, More

Google is starting to roll out several new features to YouTube Premium members that were previously available for a subset of subscribers. The company also announced a new “YouTube Labs” initiative to allow a limited number of US users to test experimental new features.

If you have a YouTube Premium, here are the new features that are now available for all members:

High-quality audio for music tracks on mobile: Google promises a “richer listening experience with enhanced audio” on official/premium music videos and tracks from music albums.

Faster playback speeds: It’s now possible to adjust playback speed in 0.05 increments, up to 4x, on Android, iOS, and the web.

Jump Ahead: This feature lets users skip ahead to the most interesting parts of a video. It’s now available on all platforms, including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Shorts Smart Downloads: The YouTube app for iOS and Android can now automatically download your favorite Shorts based on your previous watch history.

Picture-in-Picture support for Shorts: iOS and Android users can now keep watching Shorts videos in a small window when they leave the YouTube app.

Google regularly invites YouTube Premium members to test experimental features, but regular users are not left behind. Through the new YouTube Labs initiative, a limited number of US users can test new AI hosts in YouTube Music. Similar to Spotify’s AI DJ, the AI hosts in YouTube Music are “designed to deepen your listening experience by sharing relevant stories, fan trivia, and fun commentary about your favorite music.” You can check for availability on YouTube.com/New.