YouTube may be getting two new features that could be a significant upgrade, especially for those who regularly use the popular video streaming app

First, YouTube Premium subscribers will get early access to yet another feature, double-speed playback, which, according to YouTube, will allow Premium users to simply press and hold anywhere on the video player during video playback at twice the normal speed This will allow Premium users to watch videos at twice the normal speed by simply pressing and holding anywhere on the video player during video playback The playback speed will then automatically increase by 100% You will know that the experimental gesture was successful when the message "Playing at 2x speed" pops up at the top of the video

Although the term "long press" is explicitly used, this feature works with long clicks in the web browser as well as the YouTube app on Android and iOS Unfortunately for web users, however, 9to5Google found that on Android and iOS, the video continues to play when the finger is released, but on the web it automatically pauses when the finger is removed from the mouse or trackpad

This feature is available for now until August 13 and is exclusive to YouTube Premium members It joins the large thumbnail preview during seek, also available until August 13, and a new screen lock feature to avoid accidental taps The latter is limited to Android and iOS devices and will disappear on August 5

Another upgrade from YouTube is not yet official: according to Redditor u/OwenTheHugger (h/t TechCrunch), YouTube is quietly rolling out the Stable Volume feature for at least some videos Twitter user M Brandon Lee also reportedly discovered this feature in action

It is unclear exactly what this feature does, and I could not find it in my Android YouTube app However, the general consensus is that it evens out the volume between videos or parts of videos so that you don't have to constantly change the volume due to decibel spikes or drops

If so, that's a huge benefit for someone like me who listens to podcasts and similar dialogue-heavy content There is nothing more frustrating than moving from one show to another and being produced on a completely different level The same goes for super-loud commercials in the middle of a quiet segment Hopefully this feature will go a long way toward making such moments a thing of the past