YouTube Premium Just Got Even Better: If you’ve been wondering whether YouTube Premium is really worth paying for, it might have just tipped the scales in its favor. Subscribers are now getting five extra features bundled in with their membership. Some of these were previously only available as experiments or limited rollouts, but they’re now expanding to more devices.
According to an official YouTube Help forum post (spotted by 9to5Google), here’s what’s new in YouTube Premium.
Faster Playback Speeds
Regular YouTube viewers can speed up videos to 2x, but YouTube Premium members now have the option to push that all the way to 4x. Whether you’re trying to fly through a lecture or skim a long vlog, this can save a ton of time. The feature is already live on Android, iOS, and the web.
Better Sound Quality
Music lovers will appreciate this one. On videos officially labeled as music tracks, audio quality now jumps up to 256kbps. This upgrade has been part of YouTube Music for a while, but it’s now available directly in the YouTube app for both Android and iOS.
Jump Ahead to the Best Parts
Nobody wants to sit through the boring bits of a video. With Jump Ahead, YouTube Premium users can skip straight to the sections people watch the most. This feature has already been around on desktop and mobile, and now it’s rolling out to YouTube apps on smart TVs and gaming consoles too.
New Tools for Shorts On YouTube Premium
Two of the updates focus on Shorts. First is Smart Downloads. The app will now automatically save recommended Shorts to your phone so you’ve got something to watch even when you’re offline. This has been available on Android and tested on iOS, but it’s finally arriving for all iPhone users.
The second update is picture-in-picture mode for Shorts. This lets you keep a Short playing in a small window while you do something else on your phone. Android users have had it for a while, and iOS users could only access it through testing. Now, it’s officially built into the iOS app.
More Value for YouTube Premium Members
None of these features is a massive game-changer on its own, but together they add a lot of convenience. They also make the experience more consistent across different devices. On top of the new perks, Premium members still get all the usual benefits like ad-free videos, offline downloads, and full access to YouTube Music Premium.
These updates come at the same time YouTube is reshaping its YouTube Labs program, which looks to be shifting toward more AI-focused experiments.
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