During the Alphabet 2019 Q4 earnings call, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai provided an update on how many paid YouTube Music and Premium subscribers there are. There were also official figures for cord-cutting service YouTube TV.
YouTube Music is evolving into a pretty good music streaming platform with some features and perks that others can’t quite match. However, a wider issue going on with YouTube is causing Music to restrict some Disney songs and others that are “Made for Kids.”
YouTube Music has slowly and incrementally added more features over time. The latest change for Android and iOS allows you to see all new album and single releases.
Google’s primary streaming service in 2019 introduced personalized mixes, smart downloads, and other tweaks. The cloud locker that everyone is waiting for did not arrive, but YouTube Music 3.47 today suggests that the interface is being readied on Android.
Since launch, one focus of YouTube Music has been playlists — both editorial and algorithmic. Google’s primary streaming service today is now releasing three new personalized mixes.
Over the past 18 months, YouTube Premium and Music Premium has expanded around the world. Rolled out to India in March, the Google video site is particularly popular and competitive.
Recent weeks have seen a trickle of small features for Google’s primary streaming service. The latest minor usability improvement for YouTube Music is the ability to share artist profiles on Android and iOS.
Over the past several weeks, gapless playback rolled out to some YouTube Music subscribers. The capability is now officially available for all Premium users on the Android app and web client.
YouTube Music for Android gained adaptive icons this May, but an update in recent weeks broke the implementation. Version 3.43 addresses that issues and adds a dark theme for settings.
For subscribers in India, we have good news: YouTube Premium and YouTube Music now include prepaid plans for the streaming services.
One way YouTube Music attempts to differentiate itself is through a slew of algorithmic and curated playlists. The latest are various “Songs of the decade” collections that come ahead of the 2010s ending.
In addition to rolling out an Android widget, YouTube Music is now getting a Progressive Web App for desktop playback. This PWA provides faster access to Google’s primary streaming service and supports media keyboard shortcuts.
As we’ve been expecting since early August, YouTube Music now has a homescreen widget. Available with version 3.39, it’s quite straightforward and actually looks like the one from Play Music.
Restrictions placed upon YouTube Music mean that even if you live in an eligible nation, you might notice problems when you travel to regions where the streaming service is not officially supported.
YouTube Music has been testing redesigned artist profiles for quite some time now. This revamp now looks to be more widely rolling out to Android and iOS today.
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Last month, we spotted the YouTube for Android offering to open YouTube Music when playing songs. A new cross-service integration sees the YouTube app recommend new songs from the Music service.
In between discounts and promos, getting a Google Home Mini is not too difficult a task. Some YouTube Music subscribers are now being offered the most affordable Made by Google speaker for free.
Behind-the-scenes, Google requires hardware manufacturers to preinstall certain apps to get access to other first-party services. YouTube Music is now on that list for newly launched Android 10 devices, while the soon-to-be-replaced Play Music is being dropped.
From the beginning, YouTube Music has relied on playlists from the service’s curators to automated creations based on your listening history. The latest that’s beginning to roll out is called the “Discover Mix.”
Most YouTube Premium users are primarily interested in ad-free video playback. However, the top subscription tier also includes Music Premium, and Google is now advertising that fact in the primary YouTube app and offering to open YouTube Music.
Every year, the most popular smartphone leaks are all about the hardware. Our own traffic numbers show that people are most interested in looks at the physical form — even if they’re blurry images of phones in anti-leak cases that show essentially nothing. Pixel is more about software advances than most other Android phones, and that’s shaping up to be true about Pixel 4 as much as ever…
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After adding Waze integration, library sorting, and new “Released” playlist in recent weeks, the latest version of Google’s primary streaming service is rolling out. YouTube Music 3.31 reveals work on a “retail mode” to help increase adoption.
After finally gaining the ability to sort albums and other saved library content, YouTube Music’s latest addition is the “Released” playlist of the “hottest 50 songs.” It’s similar to Apple Music’s “New Music Daily” and Spotify’s “New Music Friday.”
In addition to lacking major features like a cloud locker and migrating playlists, YouTube Music is still missing basic functionality expected in an audio player. The ability to sort albums and playlists is now finally available on Android and iOS.
