• YouTube has hinted at some improvements to its Premium subscription service.
• The video platform plans to rollout Premium to more regions, along with introducing new plans.
• There is also talk of the ability to share features with friends down the line.

If you don’t like the ad experience on YouTube, but are concerned with the company’s recent crackdown on ad blockers, a viable alternative has been YouTube Premium. The subscription-based version of the video platform has a number of other value-added features and original content, but the biggest selling point has been the ad-free experience.

Google, the company that owns YouTube, is not content with leaving the service as is and is set to introduce some new elements based on user feedback. This according to a post on its support site from a YouTube team member simply named Hazel.

They explain that a number of features are coming to YouTube Premium, which we will unpack shortly below, but also highlighted that new plans are on the cards without going into too much detail.

“We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits with friends in the future,” Hazel wrote.

YouTube Premium launched in South Africa in 2019, and at the time of writing three subscription options are available locally – Student at R41.99 per month, Individual at R71.99 per month, and Family (up to five members) at R109.99 per month.

There are no annual options available in SA, so we could see those rollout down the line as part of the aforementioned expansion. Whether more tiers will be added to the mix, remains to be seen, but the scope for specific types of content or mobile-only use may be options the company is exploring.

As for the new features being added to the mix, YouTube Premium is getting Jump Ahead which is an extension of the double-tap to skip ahead function, but the difference here is that it will bring up a button to jump to a new chapter in the video. This should incentivise more creators to add chapters to their video timelines, which has always been an addition we have appreciated.

Added to this will be a picture-in-picture function for YouTube Shorts, so that when you minimise the window of a Short, it will not remove it entirely. YouTube is also introducing an early access element to Premium for members, where they will be able to, “opt-in to experience the latest in layouts, assistive AI, and the newest functionality.”

Whether all of this is enough to get more people to sign up for Premium remains to be seen, but it’s clear that YouTube is giving its subscription service more attention.