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YouTube Music's carousel interface gets ever-so-slightly improved
The change looks to be a web-only affair
Google Play Music’s death left some big shoes to fill, and YouTube Music has been doing its best (for better or worse) to do just that. While the transition got off to a rocky start, Google’s been working here and there to help make YTM a proper successor with plenty of new features and improvements. The latest arrives in the form of a tiny change being tested for the carousels that dominate Music's web interface, tweaking their UI just a smidge, to be more intuitive on larger screens.
YouTube Music might let you search through Downloads soon
The achingly slow testing of new search filters continues
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Google is doing everything it can to improve YouTube Music and bring it out of its predecessor's shadow, adding new features and tweaking existing ones. Now Google is testing a library tab to help you find the music you're looking for, but there's a limit to how useful it can be in its current guise.
These are the best replacements for Play Music's upload library
Spoiler alert: None of them replicate Play Music's feature set 1:1
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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one feature in particular: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could also just add titles you own and listen to them without ever having to pay a dime. Luckily, there are a few alternatives that replicate some of Play Music's capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.
The forced switch to YouTube Music is leaving Sonos users in the cold
Google's feet have been dragging on this for more than a year
People who own Sonos speakers aren't having the best time dealing with the death of Google Play Music. YouTube Music, the app meant to replace it, has yet to adopt the seemingly basic ability to cast audio from mobile devices to robust thousand-dollar soundbars, much less achieve the promise of complete feature parity. As with many conflicts, there's no good reason for this chasm to exist and everyone to blame. But who should fix it?
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We've known for more than a year that Google Play Music's days were numbered. Its death had even been officially announced, but it's now really, really (really) real. Google sunset the GPM app on Android and the web at the end of October, providing the knock-out blow to what has been a rather short match — and now it looks like the funeral procession has finally finished its march.
Google Play Music vs. YouTube Music: Everything you need to know
It comes down to preference, but soon, you'll have no other choice but switching
Google Play Music is on the way out and has already become inaccessible for many. A lot of people have probably long taken advantage of the migration tool and have started using YouTube Music. But there are still some key differences between the two services, and if you haven't made the switch, there are a few things to watch out for. In this article, we're going to dive into the key differences between the two services, large and small, and why they matter.
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YouTube Music proves Google cares more about Apple Watch than its own Wear OS platform
Starting today you can use YouTube Music on your Apple Watch, but you still can't on Wear OS
Google has just announced the launch of a YouTube Music app for the Apple Watch. For folks keeping score at home, that means the streaming service all Google Music users are being forced to migrate to has debuted support for Apple's wearable platform before Google's own Wear OS. This makes the company's priorities pretty clear from where we're standing.
Check out this third-party YouTube Music uploader for Windows
In lieu of an official replacement for Google Play Music's automatic desktop uploader
Google Play Music is still superior to YouTube Music for people who just want to listen to their own uploaded songs, even if YouTube Music has been catching up a lot lately. But with the demise of the Google Play Music Manager ahead of the full shutdown, users are left without an automated solution for uploading their local library. That's where an open-source tool comes in: The unofficial YTMusicUploader replicates the Music Manager's capabilities and lets you choose a path on your Windows computer for automatic uploading to YTM.
YouTube Music now lets free users download playlists containing uploaded songs
Uploads get a little bit closer to being first class citizens
YouTube Music has been picking up features like crazy over the past few months. Google's latest music streaming effort has added support for asking Assistant to play personal playlists, viewing lyrics on the web, and even an improved Android TV experience. The latest change to the platform sees free users gaining the ability to download uploaded songs contained in playlists.
Google Play Music no longer works with smart speakers and other Assistant devices
It's been a slow death
Bit by bit, Google is stripping Play Music (GPM) away from the service's loyal users, gnawing at every feature and integration, and switching it over to YouTube Music. The latest victim is the Assistant integration which lets you play your music on Home, Nest, and third-party speakers and displays.
When Google started selling music back in 2011, it was a pretty big deal. A lot of changes have happened since then, many of them involving branding. Google Play Music is preparing to be shut down as YouTube Music takes over the reigns as Google's default music streaming platform. It looks like another major step in the transition has taken place today: the music store on Google Play is officially gone.
YouTube Music upgrades Google Assistant integration with support for personal playlists
Plus free members can now cast uploaded music without a premium subscription
YouTube Music may be the latest attempt by Google to infiltrate the music streaming market, but not everyone is happy with the plan to replace Play Music. YTM was spotted testing the ability to play personal playlists via Assistant voice commands earlier this summer, and now it looks like the feature is rolling out more widely — and users can now cast uploaded songs without paying a premium price.
Sonos doubles down on battle with Google, files second lawsuit with new claims
It looks like a friendly settlement is off the table
Legal battles between companies are destined to either play out in a settlement very quickly as each side comes to terms with the expense and ultimate lose-lose nature of a drawn out fight; or they go barreling down a path that costs everybody in the long run. The rumble between Sonos and Google looked like it may simmer down, but a new lawsuit filed by Sonos this week may push the situation to the boiling point.
Google Play Music Manager for Windows is already shutting down
Migrate or or pull down those uploads while you can
Google Play Music's death date here in the US is set for just next month. But ahead of that eventual expiration, Google has started shutting down the Music Manager desktop application for managing your Play Music uploads, as it promised earlier this year. A notification going out now tells users that it's no longer available.
YouTube Music reaches 500 million installs as it prepares to lay Google Play Music to rest
"Guess I might as well check it out," said depressed Google Play Music subscriber
The YouTube Music app has been around for about half a decade now. It started out as merely a new way to watch music videos on YouTube, but was relaunched in 2018 as a full-fledged music streaming service with the eventual goal of replacing Google Play Music. As that objective draws closer to becoming a reality, YouTube Music has officially joined the likes of Google Contacts (among others) in crossing the 500 million install count in the Play Store.
The first signs of Google Play Music's impending shutdown have arrived
If Play Music was your default Assistant music source, it's switching to YouTube Music now
The phasing out of Play Music has been in progress for a while, and the whole service is set to be discontinued this month. It doesn't come as much of a surprise, then, that Google has begun to transition the default music player on Assistant devices from Play Music to YouTube Music. This also means that most users are now getting ads in between their own songs.
Play Music is dying, and some people still can't make YouTube Music their default provider in Assistant
Proper Assistant voice control is also unavailable for some
Play Music will disappear over the next few months, starting with South Africa and New Zealand in September and the rest of the world following in October. While YouTube Music (YTM) is already an almost full-fledged (albeit quirky) replacement in the US and many parts of Europe, the same can't be said for some other countries. In some, YTM isn't available as a default music provider in the Assistant, and there's no proper voice control for Google's latest streaming service, either.
YouTube Music now lets you see which songs from an artist you've added to your library
Slowly creeping toward feature parity with Google Play Music
Now that Google has officially announced the date of Google Play Music's funeral, the pressure is on to get YouTube Music as close to feature parity as possible. The streaming service added a Recent Activity section and a very limited Android TV experience earlier this week. Now another oft-requested feature is showing up: the ability to navigate to an artist and see only the songs of theirs you've added to your personal library.
Wear OS will lose Google Play Music months before a YouTube Music app exists
'Seamless migration,' my foot
Google Play Music is being phased out in favor of YouTube Music starting next month. That change already exacerbates the need for the latter to achieve a desirable feature parity with its predecessor, but it also now presents a challenging chasm for Wear OS users who will lose access to Play Music without a robust YouTube Music experience.