There are few subscription services that are as questionable in their monthly price in comparison to their feature set as YouTube Premium. We’ve always said that YouTube Premium needs an entry-level tier, because as it currently sits, the $13.99 minimum buy-in price might be too high. It gets more friendly for student accounts at $7.99 per month, especially when you factor in its inclusion of YouTube Music. Regardless of Google’s YouTube Premium questions, the company does continue to add features for its premium subscribers, and a number of them were just announced by Google.

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YouTube Premium already had a helping of Google Gemini added to the mix with YouTube Music’s Gemini-based extension, but now it gets more artificial intelligence injected into the video platform itself. YouTube announced on its Official Blog that you’ll soon be able to double-tap to jump ahead in a video to the best parts of it, in addition to already being able to jump 10 seconds ahead. Non-paying users might have already noticed that, when scrubbing through a video’s timeline, its most-watched parts are already highlighted. This premium addition just makes it simpler to get to the “best” parts. Another AI feature that is being added (er, more like re-added) to YouTube Premium is the conversational AI for Android users in the US. We’re not sure if it will be used all too much, but hey, it’s there for the taking as an early access feature.

More quality-of-life improvements for Premium subscribers

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(Source: YouTube)

It’s not all about AI in the latest batch of YouTube Premium updates. Perhaps the most-welcomed update will be picture-in-picture mode being added for YouTube Shorts on Android devices. Users have already been able to watch normal videos with picture-in-picture mode enabled even without a Premium subscription, so for those who watch Shorts but like to multitask, this will be useful. By visiting YouTube’s Early Access Feature page, you’ll also be able to enable smart downloads of YouTube shorts, enabling you to watch selected Shorts even without being connected to the internet.

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(Source: YouTube)

Let’s be honest with ourselves here: these additions don’t do much to move the needle on whether YouTube Premium is really worth it. People have tried many things to get cheaper Premium subscriptions, such as by using VPNs, but now YouTube is cracking down on these pricing exploits. The service is now available in over 100 countries, so YouTube will most likely have to play whack-a-mole to stop users from circumventing higher prices. It’s not hard to cancel your subscription if you’re tired of paying $13.99 per month and aren’t excited by these new and returning features.