YouTube Updated With Stable Volume, Improved Seeking, Hum to Search and More

YouTube is gaining support for several new features and improvements as part of the latest updates rolling out to the video streaming service. The Alphabet-owned company announced that it is rolling out “three dozen new features and design updates” to users across different platforms. With these improvements, users have access to improved volume controls, better video seeking, and a better experience while liking videos and subscribing to video creators on YouTube. A new You tab has also been added with account details and a user's watch history.

In a blog post, YouTube Product Management Director Matthew Darby stated that the service has introduced a new feature called Stable Volume, aimed at easing the process of changing the volume while watching a video — removing the sudden jumps that used to occur in the past. This setting is already rolling out to users, enabled by default, and can be found in each video settings menu under Additional settings > Stable volume.

Seeking while watching a video is also set to get easier, according to the company. While watching a video in portrait or landscape (full screen mode), users can tap and hold on the right side of the screen to start playing the video at twice the speed — until they let go.

Meanwhile, viewers will be able to move their finger while scrubbing the video seek bar, back to the point they were previously watching, with haptic feedback. Mobile and tablet users can also "lock" the screen to prevent accidental touches while playing a video.

When a video is playing and YouTube creators prompt users to like the video and subscribe to their channel, the relevant buttons will be shown with a visual cue, along with animations when users interact with them. During the first 24 hours after a video is uploaded, users will see video counts update in real time, according to the company. 

YouTube is also introducing a new You tab located at the bottom-right corner of the screen, in place of the Library tab. This page will house previously watched videos, playlists, downloads and purchases, according to the company, along with settings related to your account and details about your channel.

Android users will also be able to sing, hum, or play a song to search for it, directly from the YouTube app. This is a feature that is also available in the Google app, will let you quickly search for a track and identify it using AI, according to the company. It will be available on the YouTube app for Android smartphones over the next couple of weeks.