Oct 30, 2019

YouTube test features and experiments

What are YouTube experiments?

YouTube product teams are constantly testing out new tools and features to help you find, watch, share and create content more easily. These test features (sometimes also called “betas” or “experiments”) are usually available for a short period of time and only for a small group of people.

If you ever notice that YouTube looks a bit different for you than it does for your friend or family member, you’re likely seeing one of these experiments. Be sure to give YouTube feedback and report any potential technical issues – our teams use this information and experiment results to help us decide if, when, and how to release these features more broadly.

Learn more about some existing feature experiments

To help you keep up with these test features, our TeamYouTube Community Managers will pilot keeping this forum thread updated with cool and interesting ones that we think you’ll want to know about! While this post won’t include every experiment, it’s a good place to start if you’re curious about what we’re testing out, or whether or not you’re currently seeing an experiment. To learn about previous experiments, check out this post.

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Last edited by Meaghan - TeamYouTube Jul 24, 2024

All Replies (46)

Rob - TeamYouTube

Google Employee

Dec 5, 2024

[December 5, 2024] Testing Changes to Miniplayer: We recently launched some changes to the miniplayer and we're continuing to test new features to improve its functionality. You may be part of the experiment group that gets access to test these new features, which can include an updated user interface and docking capabilities for some content.

Jensen - TeamYouTube

Google Employee

Dec 9, 2024

[December 9, 2024] Testing new multiplayer games on YouTube Playables:

We’re beginning to test a new multiplayer feature for a few select games on YouTube Playables. Multiplayer on Playables lets you play games in real-time with other users. We’re starting our tests with two games: Ludo Club and Magic Tiles 3 on desktop and mobile devices. We're just getting started testing out new features for YouTube Playables with more to come in the future 👥!

Last edited Dec 9, 2024

Meaghan - TeamYouTube

Google Employee

Dec 16, 2024

[December 16, 2024] Testing voice replies to comments: We’re experimenting with a feature that enables creators to reply to comments with their voice. If you’re a creator in the test group (only on iOS) and want to try it out: Navigate to one of your videos via the YouTube app > Find a comment you want to respond to > Tap 'Reply' > Tap the sound wave icon > Record a voice reply > Post it as a comment. While we gather feedback in the experiment phase, voice replies can only be left by creators in the test group on your own channels, but all viewers and creators can engage with these comments. We hope that the voice reply experiment enables more meaningful relationships between creators and their audiences 🔊!

Last edited Jan 15, 2025

Hazel (TeamYouTube)

Community Manager

Jan 7, 2025

[January 7, 2025] Testing a new video highlights tool in Studio: We’re experimenting with a feature that lets creators easily cut out engaging segments from long-form videos on YouTube and instantly publish them as separate 16:9 videos 🎬 If you’re a creator in the experiment, you will see the option to ‘Create a video highlight’ in the video editor tool in YouTube Studio Desktop. This test is rolling out to a small number of creators with English videos only, so if you find yourself in the experiment, send us your feedback!

Last edited Jan 7, 2025