YouTube is experimenting with two new features to help users find and keep up with content from their favorite creators and discover new music by humming.
First, YouTube is testing a new "channel tab" in the Subscriptions feed that bundles multiple recent uploads from a subscribed channel. Instead of seeing each new video separately in the feed, users will see a shelf highlighting all new uploads from that creator since they last checked their feed.
According to a blog post, this is aimed at making it easier for viewers to find new content from creators they follow, reducing pressure on creators to upload constantly, and simplifying engagement. It could help users catch up on the latest videos without missing updates.
The platform is also developing a new way to search for songs by humming or singing. Users in the experiment can switch to this new song search mode and hum or sing a song for 3+ seconds to have YouTube try to identify it.
This feature works like Shazam but is built into YouTube and utilizes advanced melody recognition. Once identified, YouTube will show related music videos, user clips, and Shorts featuring the matched song.
We're experimenting with the ability for folks to search for a song on YouTube by humming or recording a song that's currently being played.
Once the song is identified, you'll be sent to relevant official music content, user-generated videos, and/or Shorts featuring the searched song in the YouTube app.
YouTube made its last major search update in 2021. The update included displaying video chapters directly in search results on mobile, eliminating the need to click on videos to see their content breakdown.
Recently, YouTube has been testing new adblock warnings with a countdown timer. It includes a countdown timer in the top right corner, indicating how long the user has left to take action before the ad plays.
