YouTube Shorts gain picture-in-picture and smart downloads on iPhone
Google is bringing more perks to YouTube Premium subscribers, including the ability to watch Shorts in a picture-in-picture window on iPhone.
Another new perk for YouTube Premium members is additional playback speeds for watching videos up to four times faster on mobile devices (the current playback speed limit is 2x). This feature is coming “soon.” Creators blabbering on and on until they finally get to the point go on my nerves, so you can imagine I’ll be using this quite often. Life is too short to waste my time on watching long introductions!
Google has also expanded Smart Downloads to cache Shorts on iOS. The Smart Downloads feature automatically downloads recommended videos for offline viewing. And now, it will also download recommended Shorts for offline viewing.
New YouTube Premium benefits include picture-in-picture mode for Shorts on iPhone
The official YouTube blog mentions other new benefits for YouTube Premium subscribers. The AI-powered Jump Ahead feature that was previously available on mobile devices is now available in YouTube’s web interface. This is another feature designed for people like yours truly who just want to skip boring parts of a video.
Just click this button to instantly skip ahead to the best parts of a video while using YouTube in a web browser. “After signing up, start seeking forward using your keyboard on an eligible video segment,” Google explains. “Click on the Jump Ahead button to skip forward to the content you want to get to faster.” This feature will be available as an experiment until February 5. After that, Google will decide whether to add it to the list of YouTube Premium perks based on feedback.
Watch Google’s video for Jump Ahead
Another new perk for YouTube Premium members: high-quality audio at 256kbps on music videos with more clarity and depth. Speaking of music, YouTube Music’s AI radio, called Ask Music, will “soon” be expanding to Android subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ask Music lets you use natural language to describe what you’d like to listen, but is unavailable on iOS.
Watch the Ask Music video introduction
On the other hand, YouTube’s conversational AI tool, which was previously Android-only, is expanding to iPhone owners. “This assistive tool can answer questions about the video you’re watching, suggest related content and more—all without interrupting your playback experience,” the company explains. The feature is restricted to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States older than 18.
Available on the watch page for select English videos, conversational AI is basically a chatbot that can answer questions about the video you’re watching by picking one of the suggested prompts or typing your own question. “Some users on iOS and desktop devices may also have access to this tool while we work to bring this to more users,” said Google.
Watch the conversational AI video
How to try YouTube’s experimental features
Google is regularly testing experimental YouTube features with Premium members. Up until now, you could only opt into one experimental capability at a time. But now, you can sign up for multiple experimental features at youtube.com/new.
The YouTube Premium + Google One bundle
Google is offering a new deal in the United States for those who don’t have YouTube Premium or Google One, which offers additional storage for Google Drive, Gmail and Photos, plus some other benefits. You can now save money by combining YouTube Premium with Google One Premium, which includes 2TB of cloud storage. If you already have YouTube Premium, you’ll need to cancel your membership before getting this bundle. To sign up, visit one.google.com/explore-plan/youtube-premium.
YouTube Premium is $14/month or $140/year for individuals, $8/month for students and $23/month for families after a one-month free trial. The perks include no ads, support for the picture-in-picture feature, background play for watching when the device is locked, access to YouTube Music, offline downloads and more. To learn more, visit youtube.com/premium.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/01/22/google-youtube-shorts-picture-in-picture-iphone/
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