- YouTube Premium is now testing video recommendations in your queue.
- Users can enable this feature via Experimental Features in YouTube settings and try it before a potential wider rollout.
- YouTube is also testing enhanced playback speed controls, allowing adjustments in 0.05x increments up to 4x, with the trial extended until April 7.
YouTube Premium for Android has rolled out a new experimental feature to help users discover videos more easily: Recommended Videos in Your Queue. This feature automatically adds video recommendations directly to the playback queue for Premium users.
For starters, YouTube Premium offers several perks beyond ad-free viewing, including offline downloads, background playback, and Experimental Features—a section where users can try out new features before they are released to everyone. The latest addition to this section is the recommended videos in the queue.
Table of Contents
How the Recommended Queue Works
Currently, YouTube allows you to manually add videos to your queue. That’s not changing. However, with this feature enabled, a new section of suggested videos will appear within the queue.
For example, if a video is in your queue, YouTube may automatically suggest related videos or content it thinks you’ll want to watch next. You can then choose to play the suggested video immediately or add it to your queue. It helps you discover new content while keeping your existing queue intact.
Turning On Recommended Videos in Your Queue
If you’re subscribed to YouTube Premium (not to be confused with YouTube Premium Lite), follow the steps below to try out this new feature:
- Open YouTube and tap your profile picture on the bottom right.
- Tap the Settings icon on the top right.
- On the next screen, tap Try Experimental Features. Alternatively, you can visit youtube.com/new.
- If the “Recommended Videos in Premium Queue” feature is available, you should see an option to enable it.
How to Use the Recommended Queue
- Find a video you’d like to watch later and add it to your queue. Tap three dots > Add to queue to do so.
- Open your queue (usually found at the bottom of the screen).
- See new video recommendations in the queue section.
- Tap a suggested video to start watching it immediately, or tap three dots > Add to queue to play it first or last.
- Rearrange playback order by holding and dragging videos.
I enabled the experimental feature on my YouTube account, and while I do see the strip saying “Premium feature: Line up what to watch,” I haven’t noticed any actual video recommendations yet.
YouTube is still testing this feature in Experimental Features, so it may take some time before it becomes fully functional.
YouTube Is Also Testing Faster Playback Speeds on Mobile
Another recent experimental feature is an enhanced Faster Playback Speeds on Mobile, which lets users fine-tune playback speed in 0.05x increments, ranging from 0.25x to 4x. This gives users more precise control over how they watch videos.
To allow more users to try it out, YouTube has extended the availability of this feature until April 7, before a potential wider rollout.
Not All Experiments Become Features
Not all YouTube experimental features make it to the final release. These features are typically tested among a smaller set of Premium users and may or may not be rolled out to everyone.
Over the years, YouTube has experimented with several features that never became permanent. Features like the friends list, direct messages, and video responses were tested but eventually removed or discontinued.
