YouTube Music may have yet to recreate the same popularity as Google Play Music, but it is slowly gaining many of its features, including the ability to save a music queue as a playlist. The Google Play Music app stopped working last year, with the ability to purchase, download, or upload music having been removed even earlier. While the shift from Google Play Music to YouTube Music as the default music player on Android was expected, the transition took a major step when the tech giant began instructing smartphone companies to preload YouTube Music on all Android 9 Pie and newer devices.
Google now requires every Android device with Google Mobile Services (GMS) to come pre-installed with YouTube Music. Like most other music streaming services, it offers a variety of automatically curated playlists —Mix(es)— based on the user's music consumption, and also allows for the creation of custom playlists. In addition, YouTube Music includes the ability to play music endlessly by automatically adding similar songs to the queue. This music queue can be accessed on the same screen as the music playback controls under the header, "Up Next." In this section, users can rearrange the music in the queue or play any song in the list by simply tapping on it. While the feature can be compared with the radio on Apple Music or Spotify, it truly mimics auto-play on YouTube.
Although the ability to automatically assemble tracks in a queue is not unique, YouTube Music allows this queue to be saved as a separate playlist. As demonstrated on Reddit, the option can be found at the top of the queue when on the Up Next page. Simply tapping on the "Save" button will present the user with the option of either saving the queue to an existing playlist in the library or creating a new one. Like any other new playlist, it can be saved as a Public, Unlisted, or Private playlist. For those not seeing the Save button, it is worth making sure the YouTube Music app has been updated to the most recent version.
A Familiar And Useful Playlist Feature
The flexibility to save tracks in Up Next adds another option for users to create custom playlists and is something that puts YouTube Music ahead of the competition. It has notably been carried over from Google Play Music, making it particularly beneficial to those who previously used the feature on the now-deprecated music player. While minor, the option to save a queue as a playlist, along with some of the other features, helps YouTube Music stay relevant among the more feature-diverse and deep-seated music streaming services available on Android. However, whether it actually helps to attract others from competing services, remains to be seen, and especially with the likes of Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify aiming to offer higher, studio-like, and even lossless audio quality.
Of course, YouTube Music does benefit from YouTube's infinitely large music video catalog that comfortably eclipses the music libraries offered by many others. In addition, the company has added a range of features lately, including redesigned YouTube Music widgets for Android 12 and mood filters such as "Energize" for better sorting. It has even received its own Spotify Wrapped-style "2021 Recap." With all of these efforts, YouTube is trying hard to make sure its music player is worthy of being the default music player on Android.
Source: YouTube Music/Reddit