YouTube wants to give you more bang for the buck by adding some features. The video-sharing platform is bringing Jump Ahead and picture-in-picture mode for Shorts videos to premium users.
Jump Ahead has been in development for a while now, and YouTube started testing it with premium users earlier this year. The feature does what its name says and lets you skip to a point in the video where many users would normally jump.
For that, Jump Ahead takes advantage of YouTube"s viewership data and generative AI know-how. The Jump Ahead button will show up when you double-tap on the screen to skip ahead in a video. It is currently available on Android and will roll out to iOS in the next few weeks.
Android devices are also getting picture-in-picture support for YouTube Shorts. The feature lets you multitask on your device while the Shorts video keeps playing in a floating window with controls to maximize, play/pause, and change videos.
YouTube didn"t mention when this feature would arrive for premium users running iOS devices; however, they can still watch regular videos in picture-in-picture mode.
The company announced some opt-in experimental features for premium users, some of which we have already reported. You can turn on Smart Downloads for Shorts, which automatically downloads Shorts videos to your Android or iOS device for offline consumption.
YouTube is bringing back the conversational AI experience for Android users living in the US through a tool called "Ask" that appears below select videos. It"s an assistive tool that can answer questions about the video and suggest related content without interrupting the playback.
For desktop users, YouTube is testing a redesigned watch page that puts different elements such as title, description, comments, and other details in a scrollable panel on the right side of the video. YouTube might consider rolling it if it gets a positive response from testing, similar to how it released Jump Ahead. Speaking of visual revamp, YouTube also refreshed the video player on its TV app a while back.