Google Announces Custom Feeds for YouTube, New Podcast Features in YouTube Music, More

At its annual Made on YouTube event today, Google announced several new features for YouTube viewers, content creators, and music and podcast listeners on the separate YouTube Music app. The biggest change is probably the introduction of Custom Feeds on the YouTube home page, which will allow users to organize their topics of interest across separate tabs with feeds that update automatically.

“Viewers can craft and save multiple feeds finely tuned to their varying interests, whether it’s “evening wind down with long documentaries” or “new DIY creators,” the YouTube team said today. Custom Feeds will be rolling out first to YouTube users in the US, and they will be available across web, mobile, and TVs.

For content creators, YouTube is now making it possible to organize vertical Shorts videos into seasons and episodes with custom thumbnails. YouTube Live streaming is also adding support for real-time auto-dubbing, and the platform is making it easier to co-host streams with a new Go Live Together experience.

YouTube Studio, Google’s cloud-based video editing suite, is evolving into an all-in-one creative solution that can generate video thumbnails, help users perform A/B testing, and review older videos so they can reach new audiences. On mobile, YouTube is also rolling out a new conversational editing tool to use in Shorts videos and the standalone YouTube Create app.

This may not be the most visible feature on YouTube channels, but the YouTube team said that more than 300 million users engage with posts from channels’ Community tabs daily. “On web and mobile devices, viewers will now be recommended posts from the Shorts feed, expanding creators’ audiences. And in the coming months, we’re bringing posts to TVs so you can easily find and engage with creators from the comfort of your couch,” the team said today.

Lastly, the YouTube Music app is getting some upgrades for Premium members. The conversational Ask Music tool, which can be used to create custom radio stations, is getting the ability to control the music queue. A new Podcast Lineup feature will also provide curated weekly podcast summaries.