YouTube is rolling out a few new features for Premium subscribers who use the platform to listen to podcasts.
The company says its podcast audience has hit over 1 billion monthly active users, with Premium subscribers alone streaming more than 800 million hours of podcast content in April. That’s a big enough number that YouTube is now building tools specifically for people listening on the go.
The first new feature is called On-the-go mode, which declutters the interface and gives listeners bigger, easier-to-tap controls for skipping forward or back while an episode plays in the background. It’s live on Android now with iOS coming later.
The second is Auto speed, which automatically adjusts playback pace depending on what’s happening in the episode. If there’s a slow stretch or a long pause, it speeds up on its own so you’re not sitting through dead air. Also on Android first, iOS to follow. This is a cool feature that will save you time from fast forwarding yourself.
YouTube is also expanding its Ask Music feature to cover podcasts. It was originally built to generate music playlists but now works for podcast recommendations too. You can ask for show suggestions based on your mood, what you’re into, or what you already listen to and it’ll pull up options from there.
All three features are part of YouTube’s push to keep podcast listeners inside its app rather than jumping to Spotify or Apple Podcasts. What’s your choice when it comes to listening to podcasts?
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