At Made on YouTube 2026 today, YouTube announced a slew of new features. We’ve highlighted the capabilities that will impact the viewer experience over the coming months.
YouTube app
Custom Feeds will let you conversationally create a dedicated tab from the Homepage for “specific moods, routines, or your latest interests.” Multiple feeds can be created, with examples including “evening wind down with long documentaries” or “new DIY creators.” This feature is coming to US users on web, mobile, and TVs “soon.”
Ask YouTube is getting shopping features that let you “receive organized video recommendations, such as a comparison table that includes product attributes and categories based on your preferences.”
Once you click on a video that interests you most, you can continue asking more questions about the product directly on the video’s watch page.
This fall, YouTube comments will support GIFs. The mobile comment box will let you search a library of GIFs with this type of commenting available on videos and Shorts.
The in-app direct messaging feature is adding support for group chats. This is coming this fall in the US, UK, Singapore, Brazil, and some European countries.
YouTube Music + Podcasts
YouTube Music is getting a “personalized AI-audio guide” called Your podcast lineup. You get a “weekly spoken preview of recommended shows” that will dive into why you’ll like them. It then proceeds to suggested episodes, with this touted as being a “completely eyes-optional and hands-free” experience.
Meanwhile, the Ask Music chat found in the Home tab is getting new features that let you “customize your queue or dive deeper into artist lore.”
Both updates are “coming soon to YouTube Music and Premium subscribers worldwide.”
YouTube will stream Coachella through 2030. The 2027 edition will mark “15 years of bringing the desert festival experience to fans worldwide.”
YouTube Shorts
YouTube is introducing a Shorts series feature that lets Creators organize their Shorts into seasons and episodes for a more structured and episodic experience. This is rolling out starting today.
In a related development, the Shorts feed will start to recommend posts. Google shared that over 300 million users engage with Posts on YouTube every day. These text posts will also be coming to TVs in the “coming months.”
For YouTube Creators
YouTube is piloting a Live auto-dubbing feature in early 2027 that “automatically translates your speech in real time” to let viewers “listen along in their preferred language as you speak.”
YouTube is testing “opt-in AI-powered comment moderation.” It will learn your “unique moderation style and needs over time.”
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