YouTube Music Stories Yesterday
Google’s Cast standard has been around for quite some time and, at this point, it’s not uncommon for someone to own a hefty handful of compatible speakers and displays. To help surface the device you might be looking for, Google appears to be testing “Suggested” Cast devices.
Update: This post has been updated to reflect new details from Google.
YouTube Music Stories May 19
In addition to a new Recently Played tile, YouTube Music for Wear OS will soon let you stream songs over data/cellular instead of having to download songs, albums, or playlists ahead of time.
YouTube Music Stories May 13
Since 2019, the main YouTube app has offered to open song videos in YouTube Music, but this integration is now getting much more prominent.
As we previously spotted, YouTube Music’s ‘Recently Played’ Wear OS tile is now available to let you quickly start listening to a previous album/song on your watch.
YouTube Music Stories May 11
[Update: 3 more Google apps] YouTube Music and TV now offer Play Store betas
Like the main Android client, Google is now offering Play Store betas for YouTube Music and TV to presumably test new features ahead of time.
YouTube Music Stories May 8
Playlists are undoubtedly a big part of YouTube Music’s discovery angle, and Google is now testing a big UI redesign for them on mobile.
YouTube Music Stories May 5
Since its inception in 2015 (and the 2018 relaunch), YouTube Music has only ever offered a dark theme, but the Android and iOS apps are now adding a splash of color to liven things up.
YouTube Music Stories May 1
YouTube Music is breaking up the visual monotony of the Home feed on Android and iOS with a new grid design for the “Listen again” shelf.
YouTube Music Stories April 25
In April of 2020, YouTube Music replaced “Hotlist” with the “Explore” tab. A small addition that’s presented as a new way to access Explore more or less obviates its position in the bottom bar.
YouTube Music Stories April 21
The automatically curated My Mix section sometimes labeled “Mixed for you” in YouTube Music appears to be getting updated cover art for some users.
YouTube Music Stories April 19
YouTube Music smart downloads drop the lightning for some sparkles
YouTube Music has long been able to automatically download songs “based on your previous listening history” so that you always have a fresh collection of things to listen to when offline. A small YouTube Music tweak sees smart downloads get a new sparkle icon.
YouTube Music Stories April 15
YouTube Music getting a new way to promote albums in the Explore tab
YouTube Music recently added an Explore shelf to the bottom of the Home feed that makes the dedicated page largely redundant. That said, YouTube Music’s latest addition of an album carousel to Explore suggests that the tab will stick around.
YouTube Music Stories April 12
Google’s list of developments to YouTube Music in February and March is here and includes some notable additions (like to the radio algorithm) that weren’t already spotted.
YouTube Music Stories March 28
After first launching for iOS at the start of this year, YouTube Music is widely rolling out the “Save” queue to playlist feature on Android.
YouTube Music Stories March 26
In March of last year, YouTube Music widely rolled out the ability to shuffle songs when Casting but bafflingly didn’t also enable repeat. As of today, that latter action is available again.
[U: Fixed] YouTube Music casting is currently broken on Chromecast, Google TV, Android TV devices
It seems that Google’s music service, YouTube Music, is currently experiencing issues with casting music to Chromecast, Google TV, and Android TV devices.
YouTube Music Stories March 5
The first indication that YouTube Music might be able to share songs to Instagram and Snapchat emerged in November of 2020. Snapchat sharing finally launched for YouTube Music on iOS in October and it’s now coming to Android.
YouTube Music Stories March 2
After testing for some time, YouTube Music is finally bringing the song/video switcher to the Now Playing UI of the web client.
YouTube Music Stories March 1
After rolling out a redesigned “Add to playlist” UI, YouTube Music is adding a “From your library” section to artist pages that is similar to something that was found in Google Play Music.
YouTube Music Stories February 25
YouTube Music’s subscriber base has been growing over the past year especially among youths. Google wants to keep that pace up by hiring a former Spotify executive to lead YouTube Music in Asia-Pacific (APAC).
YouTube Music Stories February 22
The latest tweak to YouTube Music sees the mobile apps get the new “Add to playlist” UI that was first introduced on the web app. It’s still in testing and not yet widely rolled out.
YouTube Music Stories February 11
Over the past year or so, Google has been working to optimize its app for tablets, foldables, and other large screen devices. YouTube Music is the most recent example with more tablet UI updates planned in the future.
YouTube Music Stories February 7
YouTube Music for Android gains convenient ‘Downloads’ app shortcut
YouTube Music annoyingly got rid of the handy “Offline Mixtape” app shortcut in July, but has now introduced “Downloads” as a more expansive replacement on Android.
Google’s sudden renewed focus on Wear OS has delivered more apps and long overdue updates to others. Now, the YouTube Music app that first made its debut a few months ago is confirmed to add the ability to stream songs to Wear OS watches including the Galaxy Watch 4.
YouTube Music Stories January 30
In addition to a new “Add to playlist” UI for mobile, YouTube Music is testing “Recommended radios.” Compared to radio stations generated from a single song, this new offering looks to be compiled from multiple influences.
YouTube Music Stories January 27
Is YouTube Music a viable alternative to Spotify? Here’s what you need to know
If you’re looking for an alternative to Spotify, YouTube Music might be the way to go. Follow this guide to learn what YouTube Music has to offer versus Spotify, how much the membership costs, and how to transfer your songs from Spotify to YouTube Music.
YouTube Music Stories January 20
In an email to Family Link parents today, Google previewed that kids will soon be able to access YouTube Music and more parts of the video site.
YouTube Music Stories January 19
Back in September of 2021, Google said YouTube Music hit 50 million subscribers faster than it expected. A new market analysis report this week notes that YouTube Music grew 50% in a 12 month period with high interest from Gen Z.
YouTube Music Stories January 18
In recent weeks, YouTube very quietly introduced an annual plan for YouTube Premium and Music Premium. It currently features a rather notable discount compared to paying every month, but that ends very soon.
YouTube Music Stories January 17
How to contact Google support and give product feedback
No Google app on Android or iOS is without bugs and issues. Fortunately, there’s a way you can contact support and leave feedback for Google app developers. Follow this guide to learn how.
YouTube Music Stories January 6
The recently launched YouTube Music app for Wear OS is set to gain a home screen Tile to help you jump back into your favorite playlist.
YouTube Music Stories December 7, 2021
In 2020, Google’s streaming service offered a “Year in Review” playlist, while a handful of users got an email with top stats. YouTube Music’s 2021 Recap is much more extensive than previous Google efforts and more on par with other streaming services.
YouTube Music Stories December 2, 2021
Previewed in October and officially announced yesterday, YouTube Music’s new “Recent Played” widget is now available on Android 12.
YouTube Music Stories December 1, 2021
Following Gmail last week, Play Books, Google Photos, and YouTube Music are set to get new widgets on Android.
YouTube Music Stories November 30, 2021
While the YouTube Music web app is undoubtedly more feature-complete than the Android TV experience housed in the main app, it still lacks native Cast integration. That fortunately appears to be changing.
YouTube Music Stories November 11, 2021
YouTube Music adds new ‘Energize’ mood filter on Android, iOS
YouTube Music introduced an “activity bar” last year that generates a “personalized homepage full of playlists” that are centered around one of four moods, and now YouTube is adding a fifth: “Energize.”
YouTube Music Stories November 9, 2021
Back in July, YouTube Music lost its very useful ‘Offline Mixtape’ app shortcut, but Google is now introducing “Play My Station” as a pretty good replacement for those that want to start playback immediately.
YouTube Music Stories October 25, 2021
In addition to Turntable at the start of this month, YouTube Music on Android 12 is set to get another Material You widget called “Now Playing & Recently played.”
YouTube Music Stories October 20, 2021
Starting next month, YouTube Music is getting free background listening in a major revamp of the streaming service’s ad-supported tier. As part of that, the YouTube Music app is going audio-only and will no longer play videos if you don’t pay for Premium.
YouTube Music Stories October 12, 2021
Back in September, Google announced that its YouTube-branded streaming service was dropping Galaxy Watch 4 exclusivity and coming to Wear OS 2 devices running the Snapdragon Wear 4100. YouTube Music can now be installed on even older watches powered by the Wear 3100 chipset.
YouTube Music Stories October 11, 2021
When browsing the YouTube Music homepage on mobile and desktop, you may soon see a “From the community” section that surfaces user-generated playlists rather than the personally or automatically generated collections.
YouTube Music Stories October 5, 2021
At the start of last month, we enabled a new YouTube Music widget for Android that was first teased in Pixel 6 ads. The “Turntable” widget is now briefly appearing for some YouTube Music users today.
YouTube Music Stories October 4, 2021
YouTube Music has announced that all users in Canada will be able to access background listening with the mobile apps on Android and iOS for free from November 3.
YouTube Music Stories September 28, 2021
In addition to debuting Wear OS 3, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was the first wearable to have a client for Google’s streaming service. The YouTube Music app is now coming to Wear OS 2 watches.
YouTube Music Stories September 20, 2021
With the launch of iOS 15 and iPad OS 15, Google announced a handful of app updates to support the latest platform features today. This includes new XL widgets, Focus mode, and Spotlight support.
YouTube Music Stories September 10, 2021
Android 12 brings a renewed focus on widgets with Google Photos and Clock — just this week — serving as key examples. YouTube Music is working on a Material You widget, and we’ve enabled a preview of it.
YouTube Music Stories September 1, 2021
Back in the third quarter of 2020, Google said it had 30 million YouTube Premium and Music Premium subscribers. YouTube Music now has over 50 million paid customers.
YouTube Music Stories August 27, 2021
We went hands-on with the long-awaited release of YouTube Music for Wear OS earlier week, and while the app certainly gets the job done, it comes with the requirement for Wear OS 3. Unfortunately, that’s a restriction that can’t be easily overcome, either.
