- Google is testing a hum-to-search feature for YouTube, allowing you to find songs by humming.
- You can also record a song with your phone’s microphone to search for it.
- The platform is also testing a so-called “shelf” feature to bundle multiple recent uploads from a creator in one place.
Searching for a song by humming is not a new concept in the world of smartphones. Google Assistant and Soundhound have provided this feature for some time now. It’s a useful method for identifying a song on your phone when you lack specific details about it.
Excitingly, Google has announced this hum-to-search feature on YouTube as part of an experimental initiative. This feature comes with the added bonus of being able to record a currently playing song to identify it.
To initiate the process, you’ll need to switch from the regular YouTube Voice Search to the song search feature. Once there, simply hum or record a snippet of the song for at least three seconds. The feature will then direct you to relevant content on YouTube, such as an official music video, a user-uploaded video, or a Shorts clip.
As of now, the hum-to-search and recording features are accessible to only a “limited group” of Android users on YouTube. Therefore, if you’re not able to access it just yet, don’t be surprised. It’s important to note that Google is categorizing this as a test or experiment, which suggests that these features might undergo significant changes before being made available to everyone. With that said, we’re optimistic that Google will eventually bring this functionality to YouTube Music as well.
This isn’t the sole feature that YouTube is currently testing. Google has also revealed a “channel shelf” in the Subscriptions feed. This feature consolidates recent uploads from a creator into a single “shelf,” eliminating the need to visit their channel directly to view new content. Beyond the convenience it offers in theory, Google’s intention is to alleviate the pressure on creators to upload multiple times a day.
Just like the hum-to-search feature, Google has confirmed that the channel shelf feature is being piloted with a small subset of users initially.
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