YouTube Music is rolling out a new feature: the ability to share music and podcasts starting from a specific timestamp. So instead of asking your friend to manually skip ahead to a certain point, you can now generate a link that starts playback right where you want it.
Previously, sharing a link to a song or podcast meant it would always start playing from the beginning. Over time, third-party apps and websites introduced tools to create custom links that started playback at specific timestamps. Earlier this year, the official YouTube app and website introduced timestamp sharing, and now YouTube Music has followed suit.
The YouTube Music app on both Android and iOS is introducing a new timestamp-sharing feature. When you tap the Share button, the share sheet menu will display a Start at xx:xx toggle in the top-right corner. Enabling this will append the specific timestamp to the shared URL.
When someone taps the shared link, the music or podcast will start playing right from that point.
This feature makes it easier to share your favorite part of a song with your loved ones without needing to send a separate message asking them to start listening at a specific time, which can be annoying. It also allows you to directly share a specific part of a podcast, which is especially useful since podcasts are often long, saving the other person from having to scrub through the entire episode.
Note that this is a server-side update, so there’s no need to rush to the Google Play Store in search of an app update. If you don’t see the feature yet, don’t worry—it’s rolling out gradually. Just wait a couple of weeks, and it should appear on your device.
