Update, July 21 (6:35 pm ET): Google has announced the rollout of collaborative playlists for Android users.
What you need to know
- Google is making playlists more powerful on YouTube Music.
- It's rolling out collaborative playlists to a select group of Android customers and adding AI-powered playlist suggestions for all Android users globally.
- YouTube Music is still set to replace Google Play Music by the end of the year.
YouTube Music may be getting a bit more collaborative in future updates. Google has added the option for collaboration on playlists in the app, albeit one that doesn't just work just yet.
The upcoming feature was spotted by the folks over at 9to5Google:
Visiting a playlist in the latest version (3.69) of YouTube Music for Android and then tapping the Edit/pencil icon reveals a new "Collaborate" button next to the "Privacy" menu. Regardless of what preference you set — Public, Unlisted, or Private — today, the new option cannot be launched. Rather, a "Navigation unavailable" toast message appears at the bottom of the screen.Earlier this year, strings revealed how you'll be provided with a link to share. Users will always have the option to turn off collaboration wherein "Playlist will no longer receive contributions," and "all collaborators will be removed.
YouTube Music at the moment lets users share links to playlists, just like regular YouTube, but this would take that capability one step further. It won't be as good as Spotify's Group Sessions which is a more active experience, but it's at least something towards that direction.
Google has been updating YouTube Music consistently over the past year, a collaborative feature like this seems par for the course as the app is pitched into competition with not just competitors but also its immediate predecessor Google Play Music.
Update, July 21 (6:35 pm ET) — Google has rolled out collaborative playlists and playlist suggestions for Android users.
Google today announced the rollout of collaborative playlists for Android users (via Android Police). It's not coming to everyone yet, but the company plans to bring it to all Android and iOS users globally. What is coming for everyone are AI-powered playlist suggestions. Spotted earlier today, Google is rolling these out to all Android users with an iOS release planned for later.
How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music
