YouTube has made significant changes to the service and expanded the capabilities for Premium users, introducing smart downloads, picture-in-picture support for short videos, and improved video navigation.
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The video hosting service announced a number of new features aimed at improving the service for Premium subscribers. One of the key updates was the expansion of picture-in-picture support for short videos. Previously, this feature was only available for long videos. Now, Android users will be able to watch short videos in a small window while continuing to work with other applications. This significantly improves multitasking and allows viewers to continue watching while performing other tasks on the device.
Also introduced is a new Jump Ahead feature that uses machine learning and user interest analysis to identify the most interesting parts of a video. When a viewer double-clicks the Jump Ahead button, the system suggests jumping to potentially more interesting moments.
Another experimental AI feature is the conversational tool Google first tested last year, which lets users ask the chatbot video-related questions and get recommendations. The chatbot is currently only available in the US and only for Android users.
In addition to all this, the platform introduces “smart download” of videos based on recent viewing of short videos (Shorts), allowing you to watch videos offline, that is, without an internet connection.
It’s worth noting that these innovations come amid a significant increase in the number of paid YouTube users. Earlier this year, the company reported that the number of Premium and Music subscribers worldwide had surpassed 100 million, indicating the growing popularity of YouTube’s paid services and the willingness of users to pay for additional features and the absence of ads.