YouTube is gradually rolling out a new feature to users called ‘Stable Volume’ but it is not clear what the feature does. Based on the name, it likely tries to keep the volume of YouTube videos the same so you don’t turn the volume up for a quiet video and then get your ears blasted out by the next video.
The feature was first spotted by a Redditor who goes by the handle OwenTheHugger who screenshotted his YouTube app with an option to enable Stable Volume. One of the Reddit commenters wondered if it might be some new AI feature but another user said YouTube wouldn’t need to use AI to keep the volume stable across videos.
Neowin has checked the YouTube Help pages but cannot find any reference to the feature so we aren’t 100% sure what it does or how it works. We’ve not been able to test this feature as it isn’t showing up on the YouTube mobile app or YouTube mobile website for us.
Earlier this month, Neowin reported that YouTube was also testing another new feature for subscribers of YouTube Premium that prevents accidental taps. Unlike Stable Volume, the tap lock is available to subscribers who opt-in to use the feature - anyone who does can use it on Android and iOS until July 30, it’s unclear if it will roll it out to everyone after that.
If the new Stable Volume feature does in fact make all videos play at the same volume level, hopefully, the company will give this feature to everyone quickly. It’ll vastly improve the experience when going from video to video and it could also apply to ads too, which sometimes play at a different volume.
Have you come across this feature on YouTube yet? What operating system are you using and did you see any noticeable difference when using the feature? Let us know in the comment section!
Source: OwenTheHugger (Reddit)