YouTube Music in 2023 revised much of the basic user interface you use every day. It started with a revamped library for Android, iOS and web in January, which later got a network view. The album pages were also modernized just like the playlists.
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Meanwhile, YTM also kicked off the year by pulling a Now Playing redesign that specifically lists from which album, playlist, etc. “Playing…” A new look was launched in September, notably featuring a carousel of quick actions, including the ability to browse and leave comments on YouTube. This makes YTM feel like a low-key social network, especially with public listening stats available on profiles as well.
The player has just been decorated with a gradient background that significantly modernizes the colors. This updated Now Playing feature is also home to live lyrics performance, which looks good and puts it on par with competing services.
The other big change was in the miniplayer, which is now permanent and cannot be removed when nothing is being played. (The ability to reject a queue was thankfully added.) This allows users to swipe left/right to go to the next/last in tracks, while I’m personally already over the fact that the play/pause button has been moved – to a blow to muscle memory – very slightly. I don’t really use the Cast button though, which was moved to the bottom.
The web app also got a major redesign, coming after the main YouTube, while the Wear OS app finally lets you browse albums and playlists. HomePod support has also gone live.
Podcasting was a big focus of YouTube Music in 2023. The rollout began in the US this April and is now live worldwide. I called it a “relaxed podcast app” earlier this year, and my position still stands. It’s gotten better with automatic downloads and manually adding shows via RSS, but my biggest gripes are the lack of marked as played (which is officially coming) and new episode notifications before Google Podcasts shuts down next year. One plus for everyone/music listeners was that YTM finally got a sleep timer.
On the actual music front, Create Radio remains a nice tool while I use many of the Covers and Remixes suggestions. The big launch here was a “Samples” feed to better browse YouTube Music’s deep library. I can see how some people would use it, but I don’t think I’m the target audience.
An underappreciated addition was a “Play All” button for carousels, including Quick Picks and Covers & Remixes, in the home feed, while YTM now automatically adds songs to your last playlist, although this behavior can be disabled: Settings > Recommendations > Remember most recently used playlist. YouTube Music is testing some bigger changes to artist pages, but it just did something more subtle: Tap More in Singles to browse albums (with the top filter) using a grid view. We also have more mood filters.
Look forward, I would expect a more generative AI, especially in the discovery experience, beyond today’s custom playlist creator with artwork. In terms of interface and experience, YouTube Music seems to be handling the overflowing overflow menu, while we should expect Speed Dial to replace Listen Again in the home feed. We also reported that YTM is planning more apps, including for Apple TV and Garmin.
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