Youtube has long allowed its users to test new features and products before they are broadcast to a wider audience. But in a recent change, YouTube's latest batch of experiments are limited to those who sign up for the premium tier of the YouTube service. Currently, paid subscribers are the only ones able to test several new product features, including one that allows iOS users to watch YouTube videos directly on their home screen.
This isn't the same as the Picture-in-Picture option that became available to app developers with iOS 14, to be clear. Instead, YouTube claims that this feature allows users who are scrolling on their YouTube homepage to watch videos with audio on as they scroll through their feed.
Two other experiments are related to research. One lets you filter the topics you are looking for by additional languages, including Spanish, French or Portuguese. The other allows you to use voice search to view videos when using the Chrome web browser.
However, none of these tests will be very long. For example, two of the three new experiments will end on October 20, 2020. The other shooting on October 27. And they have only been active for a few weeks.
In the past few years, YouTube had allowed all users to try new features under development from a dedicated site called "TestTube". In more recent years, however, it has begun using the YouTube.com/new website to target users interested in upcoming features before they were publicly implemented. For example, when YouTube introduced its redesign in 2017, users could visit the same website to activate the preview before its launch.
Now, the site is being used to promote other limited-time tests.
YouTube says the option to test features was highlighted to Premium subscribers a few weeks ago within the YouTube app. It's also the first time YouTube has run an experimentation program tied to the Premium service, we're told.
The company hasn't made a formal public announcement, but the addition has just been spotted by several blogs, including XDA Developers and Android Central, for example.
Contrary to some reportsHowever, it doesn't appear that YouTube's intention is to shut down all of its experiments to anyone but its paid subscribers. In fact, the company's supporting documentation notes that this limitation will only apply to "some" of its tests.
YouTube also made it clear to ProWellTech that the tests on the site represent only a "small minority" of those performed on YouTube. And they're by no means inclusive of the broader set of product experiments the company carries out, according to the company.
Additionally, non-Premium users can choose to register to be notified of additional opportunities to participate in other research studies on YouTube if they wish. This option appears at the bottom of YouTube.com/new.
YouTube says the goal with the new experiments is twofold. It allows product teams to provide feedback on different features and allows Premium subscribers to act as first testers if they wish.
Premium users who choose to participate can activate and deactivate the new features individually, but can only try one experiment at a time.
This could serve to attract more YouTube users to the Premium membership, as there is a certain amount of influence in being able to try out features and products before the general public. Think of it as another membership benefit, then a little more on top of the basic Premium tier features like ad-free video, download, background play, and more.
YouTube, which today sees over 2 billion monthly users, said earlier this year that it had converted at least 20 million users to a paid subscription service. (YouTube Premium / YouTube Music). In the third quarter of 2020, YouTube was the third largest app by consumer spending worldwide on iOS and Android, according to data from App Annie.
