YouTube is adding several new features for Premium users, including smart downloads and support for picture-in-picture mode for Shorts, as well as a wider rollout of its “Jump Ahead” feature for navigating through videos.
The Google-owned video streaming platform already allows background play and picture-in-picture mode for long-form videos so you can consume content while browsing other apps. The company is now extending this support to Shorts, starting with users on Android.
YouTube is also adding a “Jump ahead” button, which appears when users double-tap to skip.
When users tap on the button, YouTube jumps to the best parts of the video. The company uses a combination of viewer data and machine learning to identify these parts. The feature has been in testing since last month, and now it is rolling it out to all Android users in the U.S., with an iOS rollout scheduled in the next few weeks.
YouTube is also adding new experimental features for a limited time.
One includes a conversational AI tool Google first tested last year, allowing users to ask the chatbot questions related to the video or request to watch suggested content. The company is now bringing that back for Android users in the U.S.
In addition, the video streaming platform is adding smart download support for Shorts. This means that, based on your recent Shorts viewing history, YouTube will automatically download some short videos for offline viewing. Apart from these features, YouTube is testing a redesigned watch page on the desktop.
Earlier this year, YouTube said that, across Premium and Music, it has more than 100 million paid users around the world.
