YouTube rolls out many new features

Google is introducing a slew of new features to its YouTube video streaming service. Many of them are intended to provide users with speedier ways to speed up video playing or to lock one down so that you don't accidently cause it to stop, fast forward, or rewind.

The official YouTube blog contains further information on these changes. One of the major new features is designed exclusively for folks who enjoy watching films at higher than normal speeds:

When watching a video either in full screen or portrait mode, just press and hold down anywhere on the player to automatically bump your playback speed to 2x. Once you get to the part of the video you want, simply let go! This feature will be available across web, tablets, and mobile devices.

Then there's the new lock screen feature, which keeps your video playing even if you press the pause or other control buttons. To enable it, go to the settings icon for a YouTube video and tap on it, then tap on the Screen lock option. The video will continue to play indefinitely. To unlock it, simply tap anywhere on the video and the Tap to unlock icon will display for you to tap.

Another new option that is currently being rolled out on mobile devices is stable volume. When you watch a YouTube video on the mobile app, this feature is automatically enabled so that the volume level of the video does not fluctuate dramatically. This functionality can be disabled in the video's settings.

In the next weeks, Android devices will receive a new AI function that will allow users to find a song on YouTube simply by playing, singing, or humming a tune into the app.

Google will also remove the Library tab from YouTube on mobile and the web. The new You tab will take its place. Users will be able to access their previously watched videos, playlists, downloads, and purchases in this section. It will also replace the Account tab because it will contain all of those options.

Again, the majority of these new features, as well as others, will be rolled out over the next few weeks, so it may be a while before you notice any changes.