YouTube Music wraps up new feature launches of 2024

In 2024, YouTube Music switched to quarterly “New Features Highlights,” but skipped the Q3 edition. Google is now back with a cumulative list to summarize the second half of the year in launches.

The December 2024 edition released last week covers July to November. 

July

• YouTube Music on Tesla: Our coverage
• User Profile Radio: Coverage
• Mark as Played for podcasts: Coverage
• Simplified shelf headers: Coverage 

August

• Ask Music: Coverage 
• Mobile app launch animation: Coverage
  • “This contributes to a smoother and faster app launch experience.”
• Share counts: “When viewing a song or video, you’ll now see how many times it has been shared by other listeners.”

September

• Radio Builder on Recommended Radios shelf
• Improved podcast recommendations: “We’ve made updates to the recommendation logic which now takes into account more signals like your listening history and other preferences.”
• Podcast top result with unfinished episode: “If you have an unfinished podcast episode, it will be shown as a top result when you search for that podcast.”

October

• Custom playlist cover art: Coverage
• Speed Dial: Coverage
• Artist header redesign: Coverage
  • “You’ll now find it easier to get to key actions on the Artist detail page – thanks to a redesigned header! You’ll see options to subscribe to the artist and start an artist radio.”
• Artist top listener badges: Coverage
• Playlist import: Coverage
• Simplified swipe-to-remove: “Managing your playlists on mobile devices is now more intuitive. A single swipe action is all it takes for you to remove a song from a playlist! Only on mobile.”

• Improved Haptics on Android “We have improved the haptics experience on Android. You may now feel some subtle buzzes reactive to your touch during actions such as pull to refresh, double tap to like, and voice/sound search.”
• Landscape Mode on iOS: You can now browse the YouTube Music app in landscape mode on iOS. This is a follow up to the Android landscape launch last year.
• Deep linking to add podcast by URL: “Podcast providers can now create links that directly open YouTube Music and pre-fill the “add podcast by URL” dialog box. This makes it much simpler for you to add podcasts to your library from various sources – like your favorite Podcast creator’s website!”
• Podcasts on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay: “If you’re an ad-supported listener, you can now listen to podcasts through YouTube Music while using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Previously, this was only available to Premium members or those with uploaded music content!”
• Upgrade prompts: “To ensure you have the best possible experience, older versions of the YouTube Music app will see prompts encouraging you to update to the latest version.”

November

• 2024 Recap: Coverage
• Pin function on Speed Dial: Coverage
• Comment sharing: Tap three-dot overflow menu

• Improved playlist sorting: “You now have more control over how your playlists are organized on the YouTube Music website. Sort them by title, artist, date added, and more, just like you can in the mobile app.”
• Collaborative playlists: “You can now create playlists together with friends! Everyone invited to a collaborative playlist can add videos, making it perfect for parties, road trips, or any occasion where you want to share music with others. We’re also working on adding more features to collaborative playlists, like the ability to vote for your favorite songs.”