YouTube Premium Grows With 4x Speed And Improved Audio

YouTube is debuting a new crop of Premium goodies for phones, web, smart televisions, and game consoles that boost the verve of its subscription with some useful quality-of-life improvements. At the top of the package are more granular playback controls that stretch up to four times speed, improved audio quality for music videos, smarter browsing on the big screen and newer Shorts features for iOS.

The push demonstrates how YouTube is doubling down on Premium as a subscriber retention play. The company has already announced publicly that it passed 100 million combined Music and Premium subscribers around the world, and these additions are intended to help keep those listeners entertained while nudging ones who don’t currently pay for a subscription to take the plunge.

Faster playback with granular speed controls everywhere

On Android, iOS and the web, Premium members can now dial in video speed at up to 4x with granular increments of 0.05x.

Because if you binge tutorials or lectures, it turns out that granular control matters; jumping from 1.75x to 2.0x can be a leap too far, whereas 0.05x steps enable you to finely pace yourself between racing and understanding.

In practice that 20-minute walkthrough can feel more like a five-minute false alarm on 4x, and the finer sliders make it easier to modulate on the fly — bashing through laborious sections only to let up for tricky patches. It’s not going to blow anyone’s mind, but power users will feel the difference immediately.

Improved audio quality for official music videos

And the improved audio, once limited to YouTube Music and a temporary test that only opened up on the main app via an opt-in process, is now rolling out to Android and iOS worldwide for Premium subscribers — albeit only for official music videos and Art Tracks at present. The goal is richer, clearer sound without having to fiddle with settings.

And that’s a distinction with relevance, because music videos remain one of the biggest draws on YouTube. Granting a meaningful quality bump to Premium users here takes a page out of the high fidelity streaming services playbook, and wraps it right into the viewing experience people are already using every day.

Jump Ahead on TVs and consoles to skip to key moments

“Jump Ahead,” a search feature that allows viewers to skip to the most important part of a video, is expanding today for Premium members on smart TVs and game consoles. The feature leans on viewing signals and chapters to help you find those key moments — good for long recipes or tech reviews or fitness routines where the intro is not the main event.

On the couch, this addresses an old pain point: randomly fumbling with a remote control to get where you want to go.

Now you can skip straight to the action with a single tap or button press, instead of playing around with scrubbing.

Shorts gains for iOS with auto downloads and PiP

Shorts is getting smarter on iOS with automatic downloads for Premium users according to watch history. If you commute or travel, your favorite bite-size clips can be loaded and waiting offline without any further intervention — a feature that was previously confined to Android and in limited testing.

In addition, picture-in-picture for Shorts is starting to roll out more widely on iOS, so you can continue watching a video while looking at messages or maps. It’s a small bridge between quick-hit content and everyday multitasking.

Why these new Premium perks matter for users and creators

For YouTube, the additional services help make a subscription to its content more attractive in a crowded streaming market. Pew Research Center has consistently found YouTube to be the online platform with the broadest reach among U.S. adults, and Premium is the lever for turning that reach into a subscription business.

Creators benefit, too. A portion of Premium revenue is also shared back to eligible creators on YouTube based on watch time in the same way we do for ads (as outlined in more detail in our Help Center and Creator Insider post). More Premium watching — particularly longer videos and music content — can mean a more constant payout in addition to ad revenue.

Alphabet executives have done so on earnings calls, where they stressed the double-barreled fuel of advertising and subscriptions. Each Premium enhancement to watch time, perceived quality or convenience nudges the odds that a subscriber will choose to stay subscribed.

How to try the new YouTube Premium features right now

Just update the YouTube app on Android, or sign in to a Premium account on iOS to find the feature sitting alongside player controls.

Eligible music videos will receive automatic audio upgrades. On smart TVs and consoles, launch the YouTube app and experiment with its “Jump Ahead” feature on longer videos for a quick way to jump directly to relevant parts.

On iOS, turn on automatic downloads in settings if not already enabled for Shorts and freely use picture-in-picture by swiping to the home screen while a Short is playing. If you enjoy having access to features in advance, watch YouTube’s Labs program, which occasionally gives Premium members early access to new experiments.