YouTube announced new experimental features for Premium users, including high-quality audio, faster playback speeds on mobile, and a “Jump Ahead” option on the web. The high-quality audio feature lets users enjoy music videos with an audio bitrate of up to 256kbps, similar to YouTube Music’s high setting.
With YouTube Premium, you can enjoy millions of videos without any interruptions from ads before or during playback, and you’ll also be free from third-party banner and search ads.
However, you may still come across branding or promotional content embedded by the creator, including links, shelves, and features that promote their website, merchandise, channel membership, event tickets, or other related offerings.
Ad-free viewing is available across all devices and platforms where you can sign in with your Google Account, including compatible smart TVs, gaming consoles, and the YouTube, YouTube Music, and YouTube Kids mobile apps, depending on availability in your location.
YouTube Music Premium provides a similar ad-free experience for music content within the YouTube Music app.
Mobile users can now watch YouTube Shorts in picture-in-picture mode on iOS, and a new smart downloads feature for Shorts automatically saves videos for offline viewing when a good connection is available.
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In terms of playback speed, YouTube now allows up to 4x speed on mobile, doubling the previous maximum of 2x. The “Jump Ahead” feature, which lets users skip to key moments in a video, is now available on the web for Premium users after launching on mobile last year.
Additionally, YouTube is expanding its AI-driven features, including the “Ask Music” feature on YouTube Music in the U.K. and Ireland, which creates personalized radio stations based on user prompts. YouTube is also rolling out its conversational AI feature, allowing users to ask questions or get video recommendations, with availability expanding to iOS soon.
