YouTube Music now syncs playback across devices, but it’s no match for Spotify

Summary

YouTube Music’s latest update now allows cross-device music playback. However, it’s not as seamless as Spotify.
The new feature includes progress bars for frequently listened songs in the Speed Dial and the ability to resume a song where you left off.
I think YouTube Music should add a feature similar to Spotify Connect to its platform.

I listen to a lot of music throughout my workday on Spotify, and one of my favorite features is cross-device playback. This feature makes it easy to listen to Spotify on my PC and then seamlessly switch to listening to the same song or podcast on my iPhone. While I have YouTube Music as a side effect of being a YouTube Premium subscriber, I’ve never really used it because of its lack of cross-device playback. However, this is finally beginning to change.

According to Android Authority, the latest version of the YouTube Music app now allows you to resume music playback on a different device. This means you can start listening to a song on your PC or tablet and then pick up where you left off on your mobile device, thanks to YouTube Music now syncing your playback progress.

When you download the latest YouTube Music app update (version 8.26.51), you should now see progress bars for songs or playlists you frequently listen to on your Speed Dial. If you’re unfamiliar with Speed Dial, it’s a YouTube Music feature that allows you to view pinned songs and playlists that you frequently listen to. When you tap on a song, you’ll see a new button called “Resume,” which lets you pick up exactly where you left off the last time you streamed it.

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YouTube Music needs to do more

Google should add a feature like Spotify Connect to YouTube Music

The Spotify and YouTube icons on either side of an Android phone. — Spotify / YouTube / Pocket-lint

Spotify / YouTube / Pocket-lint

While YouTube Music’s cross-device playback is a good start, it’s not as intuitive as Spotify’s implementation. Spotify’s cross-device playback lets you instantly resume listening to a song or podcast from the moment you left off on another device, without having to press a resume button. You just open the app, and boom, it knows exactly what you were listening to last.

Spotify also has a great feature called Spotify Connect, which lets you control Spotify remotely with another device. For example, I can use Spotify on my PC and change the song I’m listening to and the volume from my iPhone. I use Spotify Connect on my PC frequently, especially if I’m playing a game and don’t want to alt-tab to change the song I’m playing to or pause playback.

If YouTube Music one day offers the same seamless cross-device playback as Spotify and a feature like Spotify Connect, I would consider switching, especially since I already pay for YouTube Premium. Hopefully, YouTube Music’s new resume playback functionality is just the tip of the iceberg of what Google has planned for cross-device playback.