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Google gives YouTube Music a makeover with new features

Eric Brackett
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Some major changes are coming to YouTube Music. Endgadet has reported that Google is planning on embarking on an aggressive patch schedule which aims to address some of the major shortcomings found with YouTube Music.

One of the first set of changes users should see is an updated version of the user interface. The interface on YouTube Music isn’t the worst UI we’ve ever seen, but it does have some major flaws. Probably the most glaring is the inability of users to sort their music by anything other than how recently it was added. Sorting albums in alphabetical order is currently not possible. Even browsing recently released albums can be difficult if you are interested in a particular music genre.

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Of course, these UI improvements will come at the cost of some previously existing features. In particular, Google will be removing the “shared history.” This feature would sync users YouTube Music playlists with YouTube videos. While such an option is useful in theory, it was far from ideal in implementation and made it difficult for users to sort out their music subscriptions from standard videos.

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In addition to the UI upgrades, YouTube Music users will also be getting several new options when it comes to downloading, streaming, and storing their music. While speaking with Engadget, Elias Roman, a YouTube Music product manager, said that Android users had long asked for the ability to download and store music on hard drives and SD cards. Roman said that this feature is in the process of being pushed live.

Another download-related feature involves new options related to stream and download quality. Within a matter of weeks, YouTube Music users will be able to stream and download music in low, medium, or high quality settings. This should give those with limited storage or data options more flexibility in how they want to listen to and store their music.

Beyond these changes, YouTube Music fans have a lot to look forward to thanks to Google’s aggressive patch schedule. It remains to be seen whether they can stick to it in the long term, but, then again, they may not have to. If they can create a solid streaming service with a strong UI then users may forgive Google for slowing down its content update schedule.

YouTube Music launched in May of this year and currently costs $10 a month. Users who subscribe to YouTube Premium will get access to YouTube Music at no additional cost.

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Eric Brackett
Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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