News & Reviews:   YouTube Premium

Just over the long weekend, a Malaysian discovered a new YouTube Premium plan. While there's no official announcement, the YouTube Premium Lite is probably making its debut soon as a new subscription tier, positioned as a more affordable alternative to the full Premium offering, targeting users who primarily want a cleaner viewing experience without paying for the full bundle.

In an unexpected move, Google is rolling out broader access to picture-in-picture playback on YouTube, with the feature set to reach users worldwide over the coming months. The update aims to make multitasking easier by allowing videos to continue playing even when users leave the app.

Google is experimenting with a new AI-powered search experience on YouTube, introducing a chatbot-style feature called “Ask YouTube.” The tool is designed to make searching for videos feel more like a conversation rather than a traditional keyword-based query. Currently, the feature is being rolled out as a limited experiment, available to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States who are aged 18 and above.

YouTube is reportedly testing 90-second unskippable ads on its TV app, significantly increasing ad duration compared to the usual 15 to 30-second limit. While there is no direct pricing involved, the move reflects the platform’s ongoing push to strengthen ad-based monetisation, especially for users who are not subscribed to Premium.

YouTube Music has started rolling out changes that curb access to its oft-used lyrics feature for listeners on free, ad-supported accounts. Once a perk available to anyone using the app, full song lyrics now require a subscription after a limited number of views.

YouTube has started blocking third-party mobile browsers from using 'clusters' for its background playback feature. That said, what should you know about it?

Once again, YouTube appears to be testing a change that could restrict access to its popular playback speed feature to only those who subscribe to YouTube Premium. The experiment was first spotted in a screenshot shared by a Reddit user showing a prompt requiring a Premium subscription to adjust video playback speed, a function that has historically been available for free.

Video platforms have various features designed to enhance our visual and audio experience. For instance, you can speed up YouTube videos to quickly go through them. Now, YouTube Premium users are getting additional enhancements that could prove useful.

In the footsteps of Netflix and Disney+, YouTube seems to be stepping up enforcement of its long-standing rule that all members of a Premium Family plan must reside in the same household. While this requirement has existed since at least 2023, it was rarely policed—until now.

Don't know what music to listen to on YouTube Music (YTM)? Well, there's an AI feature that helps with that. "Ask Music" is an AI feature introduced last September to Android devices. But now, this feature is now on the iPhone and iPad.