YouTube Music on the web lets you directly start albums from cover art

Abner Li | Jun 29 2020 - 1:10 pm PT

The bulk of YouTube Music changes in recent weeks have benefited the Android app. An update to YouTube Music on the web sees Google streamline the quick start behavior, with users now able to play an album from the cover art.

When browsing the Home, Explore, and Library feeds, you can now hover over any song, album, or playlist to reveal a play button in the bottom-right corner. This of course starts the work with a volume icon appearing to signal what you’re listening to. Tapping anywhere else in the square will open the listing like before.

Another tap lets you quickly pause, while there’s an overflow menu in the top right to access Shuffle play, Start radio, Play next, Add to queue, Add album to library, Add to playlist, Go to artist, and Share.

Previously, only individual tracks featured a play button to let you start listening without opening the full listing. “Your Mixtape” was another exception and “Your Mix” still features a centered start icon today.

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Artists are not included in this change, but it’s still a great behavior unification compared to what came before. This change is rolling out on music.youtube.com and the Progressive Web App.

Meanwhile, an APK Insight in March revealed work on a similar “Tap to play” behavior coming to the Android app.