YouTube rolling out stable volume, You tab, song search by humming, and more

Following the big redesign last year that introduced a black dark theme and Ambient Mode, YouTube is rolling out “three dozen new features and design updates,” like a You tab and stable volume, “over the coming weeks.”

Starting on the video player, “Stable volume” in the mobile app will “reduce jarring differences in volume.” Enabled by default, tap the settings gear icon and then “Additional settings” for the new on/off toggle. This is rolling out starting today. 

YouTube is getting much bigger preview thumbnails when seeking. There’s also now a quick way to cancel a scrub by moving “your finger to where you started and lift[ing] when you feel a vibration.” Similarly, pressing and holding the player when watching in full screen or portrait mode will “automatically bump your playback speed to 2x.”

Once you get to the part of the video you want, simply let go! This feature will be available across web, tablets, and mobile devices.

Google is also introducing the ability to lock your video player screen and avoid errant taps. Activated from the settings menu, you’ll have to hold down on a certain part of the window to unlock it.

On the broader mobile and web video page, the “Subscribe” and “Like” buttons will sparkle with a ring animation when creators ask viewers to do so.

And once fans smash that button, a subtle explosion of playful sparkles will reward them. Top comments automatically rotate so you can scan the best commentary from the community. And, for new video uploads, we added a new animation that updates view count and like count in real time for the first 24 hours to show how many other users are engaging with what they’re watching.

As we previously spotted, YouTube is combining the Library and account page with a “You” tab. This will surface your “previously watched videos, playlists, downloads and purchases, as well as your account-related settings and channel information.” This is rolling out today on web and mobile.

YouTube is also getting the ability to search for songs by singing, humming, or playing a clip. Google says it’s using “AI to match the sound to the original recording.” Google Search offers a similar capability, with this one rolling out to Android in the next few weeks.

Finally, YouTube on smart TVs is adding a vertical menu to more quickly access video chapters, the description, and comments by tapping the video title.

We’re also rolling out similar improvements on web and mobile, including a scrollable description section with a cleaner design.

Looking ahead, we are also excited to continue these efforts and bring more modern design elements to other areas of YouTube, such as the YouTube Kids app.