The YouTube Premium upgrade includes smart downloads and picture-in-picture mode for Shorts

YouTube is adding several new features for Premium users, including smart downloads and support for picture-in-picture mode for Shorts, as well as a wider rollout of its “Jump Ahead” feature for navigating through videos.

The Google-owned video streaming platform already allows background play and picture-in-picture mode for long-form videos so you can consume content while browsing other apps. The company is now expanding this support for shorts, starting with Android users.

YouTube has also added a new "Skip Forward" button that appears when users double-click to skip. When the user clicks the button, YouTube jumps to the best part of the video. The company uses a combination of observer data and machine learning to identify these parts. The feature has been in testing since last month, and now it is rolling it out to all Android users in the U.S., with an iOS rollout scheduled in the next few weeks.

YouTube is also adding new experimental features for a limited time. These include conversational AI tools Google first tested last year that let users ask chatbots movie-related questions or request viewing recommendations. The company is now bringing the feature back to Android users in the US.

Additionally, the video streaming platform has also added smart download support for shorts. This means that based on your recent short video viewing history, YouTube will automatically download some short videos for offline viewing. In addition to these features, YouTube is also testing a redesigned watch page on desktop.