YouTube is rolling out several new features for Premium subscribers. The company is making them available to subscribers across a wider range of devices. These updates include adjustments to playback speed, enhanced audio quality, and new functionality for Shorts, moving features previously in testing into general availability.
Control and clarity
A major part of the rollout is the expanded availability of faster playback speeds. Premium members now have the ability to fine-tune video speed up to 4x, with precise increments as small as 0.05x. This detailed control is now fully available across all primary platforms: Android, iOS, and the web.
For music content, the experience has been enhanced with the expansion of High-Quality Audio. This feature, which streams at 256kbps, moves beyond the YouTube Music app and is now fully available in the main YouTube app on both Android and iOS. This applies specifically to official or premium music videos and “Art Tracks,” improving the listening experience for eligible content.
Expanded viewing functionality
YouTube is also making navigation more efficient on larger screens. The Jump Ahead feature, which is designed to skip to key or frequently viewed parts of a video, is now fully available on Smart TVs and gaming consoles. This provides users with better control when navigating lengthy content in the living room environment.
Additionally, the short-form video experience on iOS has received a couple of functional upgrades:
Shorts Picture-in-Picture (PiP): iOS users can now enable PiP for Shorts. This allows the video to continue playing in a small, movable window while the user scrolls through other content on their device.