It seems that not everyone is a fan of the new algorithm
YouTube Music is definitely one of Google’s more frequently improved apps, as we saw recently when it adopted media controls borrowed from Android 13 to give things a more cohesive look. Not all of the new stuff is rolling out to Android, though, and today we learn that the service is testing a “dynamic queue” setup on iOS devices.
Currently, when listening to radio based on a track or the app’s auto-generated queue, skipping to the next track usually just gives you more of the same – the whole idea is that YTM tries to keep its suggestions as relevant as possible. But if you want to change things up more radically—perhaps switch to a different genre—you’ll need to choose a different song from the YouTube Music library or jump to a different radio.
The dynamic queue appears to be designed to facilitate such exploration, as shared by Redditor /u/-nuksoc/. When turned on, skipping a track in the middle would change future tracks in the queue “according to your listening”.
This could be YouTube Music’s attempt to emulate a Spotify-style personal music discovery mechanism with a dedicated on/off switch. While we’re in early testing, not everyone is a fan, and early comments on Reddit (via 9to5Google ) suggest that the feature could put a damper on audiophiles with eclectic tastes who would put Post Malone right behind Black Sabbath.
It might be safe to say that this feature isn’t quite ready for prime time and needs some tweaking before it really helps you expand your music discovery. The dynamic queue appears to be being tested on both iOS and YouTube Music’s web interface for some users, where it can be toggled on and off under “Play & restrictions.” So far, we haven’t heard any reports of it being available on the Android app.
