YouTube is Getting a New Miniplayer, Sleep Timer, and More

The YouTube team detailed today a series of improvements that have started rolling out across the desktop, mobile, and TVs. The new features are part of a “major update” that the YouTube team aims to release every year, with improvements inspired by user feedback.

Overall, YouTube users can expect a redesigned miniplayer, custom thumbnails for playlists, and more granular playback speed controls. The Sleep Timer feature that was previously tested with YouTube Premium members earlier this year is also coming to all mobile users.

“User feedback is crucial to how we push YouTube forward,” said Matthew Darby, Director, Product Management at YouTube. “Each year, we introduce a major update that adds new features and refines the existing experience. Expect over two dozen improvements headed to YouTube, each designed with viewers and creators in mind.”

Here are the new YouTube features that have started rolling out today:

Fine-tunable playback speed: Users can now adjust playback speed in 0.05 increments.

Improved browsing in landscape mode: On Android, the YouTube app should be more responsive in landscape mode, and users will also notice larger thumbnails and bigger text. These improvements are coming later this year to iOS.

Improved miniplayer: The miniplayer that lets users browse YouTube while watching a video can now be resized and moved around the screen.

Playlist improvements: Users can now upload custom thumbnails for their playlists or generate new ones with AI. Later this year, users will also be able to vote on videos in playlists, and the ranking will appear on a new ‘Top voted’ view.

Sleep Timer: This feature lets users set a timer to automatically pause videos after a certain time.

TV improvements: YouTube is making channels more “immersive” on TV”, which means that a video will automatically start playing when users check out a channel. A new UI for Shorts will also let users read comments without interrupting the video. QR codes are coming for improving playlist collaboration on the big screen.

Badges: This gamification feature will let subscribers to a channel earn badges after completing some activities, including completing quizzes or receiving a heart on a comment from the creator of a video. Badges will only be visible to the YouTube and YouTube Music mobile apps.

The new badges also reflect YouTube’s efforts to make users feel part of a community. Last month, the company also introduced a new Communities experience that content creators can enable on their channels to give their audience a dedicated space to interact outside of the comments section.