The YouTube Music app in 2023

In 2023, YouTube Music changed much of the basic user interface that many of you use every day. It started in January with a renewed library in Android, iOS operating systems and in the online version online in January. Libraries thus got a network view. Just like the playlists, the album pages have also been updated.

Meanwhile, YTM kicked off the year with a revamp of its “Now Playing” feature, which notably affected which album, playlist, etc. “You’re playing from…”. A new look was introduced in September, which primarily includes a carousel of quick actions, including the ability to browse and leave comments on YouTube. YTM thus acts as a low-key social network, especially since public listening statistics are also available in profiles.

The player itself has recently been updated with a gradient background that makes the player much more colorful. One of the latest updates also saw the implementation of live texts, which looks nice and kind of puts YTM on par with competing services.

The other big change is the mini player, which can now be removed when nothing is playing. (Thankfully, the option to dismiss the queue has been added.) This allows users to swipe left/right to skip to the next/last song. It's also worth noting that the play/pause button has been moved slightly - a minor muscle memory hit.

2023 also brought a lot of changes to the web version of the app, which is inspired by the “main” YouTube. At the same time, the Wear OS app finally allows browsing albums and playlists. Support for HomePod has also started working.

The year of podcasts

To stay competitive in this area, YouTube Music has invested a lot of time and money in podcasts in 2023. The rollout began in April this year in the US, and is now rolling out worldwide. Despite this, YTM is no match for some apps that have been in the podcasting space for a long time. One of the improvements is the automatic uploading and manual addition of content via RSS, the most annoying is the lack of the “mark as played” function (which is officially coming) and notifications about new episodes. One of the new features and at the same time advantages for music listeners is that YTM finally has a sleep timer.

As for the actual music, “Create Radio” remains a nice tool, while users also make a lot of use of the “Cover & Remixes” section. A big new addition in this area was the “Samples” channel for better browsing the app’s many libraries.

A look into the future

I expect more generative AI in the future of the YouTube Music app, especially in the music discovery phase. In terms of interface and experience, YouTube Music seems to be struggling with a cluttered menu. It also seems that “Speed Dial” will be replaced by “Listen Again” on the home screen. Several media outlets have also written that YTM is planning more apps, including for Apple TV and Garmin.