Google has been pushing Youtube Music as a replacement for Play Music quite aggressively. Almost every time you open the Youtube app on your smartphone you get a promotion to download Youtube Music app.
Google has also been rolling out many features to the Youtube Music app to make it a viable replacement for the Play Music and a competitor to services like Spotify and Apple Music. Last month the Youtube Music app got the ability to play locally saved media files (Only through other apps such as File Manager). And now Google is rolling out the in-app local playback for audio files.
YouTube Music update changes
The Youtube Music app gets a new “Device Files” tab for the local audio playback. However, there’s a catch as you will not be able to add your local audio files to your playlists or queue form Youtube Music which is a bummer. This feature is available in Play Music, so it does make sense for Google to hold out on this.
The local in-app audio playback feature is not directly activated in the latest version of the Youtube Music app. It will probably be a server-side toggle and will be activated within a few weeks region wise.
Google is also running a free one month trial for Youtube Music Premium subscription. The benefits of premium membership include ad-free music, offline, and with the screen locked. So if you want to try the Youtube Music app, sign up for the free one month trial of the premium subscription to get the complete experience.
Do you think Youtube Music has a chance to compete against services like Spotify and Apple Music? Let us know in the comment section down below.
