YouTube Music in 2023 recap: Core redesigns and podcasts

Abner Li | Dec 19 2023 - 1:00 pm PT

In 2023, YouTube Music redesigned a lot of the core UI you use day-to-day. It started with a revamped Library on Android, iOS, and web in January that later gained a grid view. Album pages were also modernized just like playlists.

9to5Google has a rebooted newsletter that highlights the biggest Google stories with added commentary and other tidbits. Sign up to get it early in your inbox, or continue reading 9to5Google Log Out below:

Meanwhile, YTM also started the year by pulling a Now Playing redesign that notably listed what album, playlist, etc., you were “Playing from…” In September, it launched a new look that notably incorporates a carousel of quick actions, including the ability to browse and leave YouTube comments. It makes YTM feel like a low-key social network, especially with public listening stats also available on profiles.

The player was just topped off with a gradient background that does modernize colors a great deal. This updated Now Playing is also home to a live lyrics implementation that looks nice and brings it on par with competing services.

The other big change was to the miniplayer, which is now permanent and cannot be removed when there’s nothing playing. (The ability to dismiss a queue was thankfully added.) This does allow users to swipe left/right to go next/last on tracks, while I’m personally now over the fact that the play/pause button was moved – in a blow to muscle memory – ever so slightly. However, I’m really not using the Cast button that was moved to the bottom.

The web app also got a big redesign that took after main YouTube, while the Wear OS app finally lets you browse albums and playlists. HomePod support also went live.

Podcasting was a big YouTube Music focus in 2023. The rollout started in the US this April and is now live worldwide. I called it a “laid-back podcasts app” earlier this year, and my stance still stands. It’s gotten better with auto-downloads and manually adding shows via RSS, but my biggest gripes are the lack of mark as played (which is officially coming) and new episode notifications ahead of Google Podcasts shutting down next year. One upside for everyone/music listeners was YTM finally getting a sleep timer.

On the actual music front, “Create a radio” remains a nice tool, while I use “Covers and remixes” suggestions a lot. The big launch here was a “Samples” feed to better browse YouTube Music’s deep library. I can see how some people would use it, but I don’t think I’m the target audience.

One underrated addition was a “Play all” button for carousels, including “Quick picks” and “Covers and remixes,” in the Home feed, while YTM now automatically adds songs to your last playlist, though that behavior can be disabled: Settings > Recommendations > Remember most recently used playlist. YouTube Music tested some bigger changes to artist pages but just went with something more subtle: Tap “More” in Singles to browse albums (with the top filter) using a grid view. We also got more mood filters.

Looking ahead, I’d expect more generative AI, especially in the discovery experience, beyond today’s custom playlist artwork creator. In terms of the interface and experience, YouTube Music looks to be tackling the overflowing overflow menu, while we should expect a “Speed dial” to replace “Listen again” in the Home feed. We also reported that YTM was planning more apps, including Apple TV and Garmin.