YouTube Music for Android is working on a sleep timer [APK Insight]

Abner Li | Jul 20 2022 - 1:47 pm PT

A sleep timer to pause playback after a specified increment is in the works for YouTube Music. This has been a long requested feature, especially since Google Play Music offered one ages ago.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

From what we can tell looking at the latest version of YouTube Music, which also adds support for the new Android 13 media player, the sleep timer will appear as a bottom sheet somewhere inside playback controls.

res/layout/timer_status_bottom_sheet.xml

The three-dot overflow menu in the top-right corner is the most likely access point, but the sleep timer appearing alongside share, download, add to playlist, and radio when you tap on cover art would be more convenient.

In comparison, Play Music placed its sleep timer in the main settings list for a somewhat cumbersome process. Overall, the approach should not be too different from how it was added to Apple Music for Android earlier this year.

YouTube Music will show time remaining on an active timer with the ability to add five more minutes or immediately cancel. You’ll presumably be able to add higher increments at the start of the process.

<string name=”add_five_minutes”>five minutes</string>
<string name=”timer_cancel”>cancel timer</string>

In addition to allowing you to fall asleep to music, a timer is especially useful for scheduling breaks. It’s not yet clear when YouTube Music’s sleep timer will launch.