Several months after first testing the feature, YouTube is rolling out a new 'Listening controls' UI overlay that aims to offer easier music playback for Premium users. YouTube Premium offers a number of perks over and above the free version, including ad-free content, picture-in-picture, offline playback, and free access to YouTube Music. Listening controls is yet another addition to that list, bringing a clean and clutter-free music control option for YouTube users.

Google first started testing 'listening controls' back in May 2021 as a Premium feature available only to paid subscribers. However, the A/B test was initially limited to very few users at the time. While the test is believed to have begun with iOS users, it was eventually rolled out on Android as well.

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As reported by 9to5Google, Listening controls is now available for all types of content on YouTube and not just music videos. However, music videos offer an easy way to access the feature by displaying a small 'Listening Controls' button over the main player window. Tapping on the button will enable users to access the UI overlay with multiple audio playback options, including play/pause, next/previous, and rewind/forward (10 seconds). The Listening controls panel also includes at least three other options, including a 'Like' button with count, a 'Save' button to add the video to a playlist, and a 'Speed' button to control playback speed.

Enabling Listening Controls For Non-Music Videos

YouTube

Even though YouTube makes it real easy to access Listening controls with an overlay button on the player window for music videos, it can also be used for non-music videos, although it has to be accessed a little differently. To get the feature to work with videos that don't show the Listening controls button, users will have to click on the three-dot overflow menu in the top-right corner. On the slide-out menu that appears, users can tap the "Listening controls" option to access the additional playback features.

For reference, YouTube hasn't officially announced anything about the rollout, but online reports suggest that it is already available to users in the US and the UK. Therefore, it's not immediately clear if it is currently being rolled out to all users globally. Regardless of who has access right now, YouTube is likely hoping that the new feature not only proves useful for music lovers, but also for people listening to podcasts on the platform, especially as the company continues to put more emphasis on that lucrative market in the coming months and years.

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Source: 9to5Google