What you need to knowGoogle announced a number of upgrades to YouTube and YouTube Music last week, including support for custom playlist thumbnails. Previously, users could ask the generative AI to create thumbnails for them, but they couldn’t upload their own thumbnails. Currently, users will see this feature in the YouTube Music web player when they verify their phone number. Mobile app support seems to be coming in the future.This month, YouTube and YouTube Music are adding several new features, the big one being the launch of custom playlist thumbnails. YouTube Music is a strong competitor to Apple Music and Spotify, especially if you’re already paying for YouTube Premium. However, it may be missing core features that you take for granted in other music streaming apps. Now, YouTube Music is catching up to its competitors by allowing users to upload their own photos and artwork as playlist thumbnails.
This feature is widely available for YouTube Music users in the platform’s web player at music.youtube.com. The rollout was first spotted by 9to5Google and appears to be limited to the YouTube Music web client for the time being. Additionally, YouTube appears to require users to verify their phone number before uploading photos. If you don’t see the custom thumbnail option, make sure your phone is authorized.
After opening the playlist, you can tap the pencil icon to select a photo from your phone, tablet, or computer. The web client provides a built-in cropping tool that allows you to resize your custom images to fit the square aspect ratio of your playlist. Then you’re ready to go. However, you can undo your changes at any time by tapping the pencil icon and selecting (Remove Custom Image).
Other music streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify have offered custom playlist thumbnails for quite some time, allowing users to customize playlists that work for them. Custom playlist thumbnails are probably more useful for YouTube Music subscribers, but they’re also available on YouTube, as Google demonstrates in the video below.
Upload and design your own YouTube playlist cover. Mega Shin 💄🪞 – YouTube Watch On
Oddly enough, YouTube has offered a way for users to personalize playlist thumbnails since 2023, but it was limited to AI-generated artwork. Playlists are always created with a personal touch, so using your own photos feels like a natural choice.
Luckily, YouTube Music subscribers don’t have to be jealous of other streaming services with the arrival of custom playlist thumbnails on the platform. Next, we’ll look to see if this feature comes to the YouTube Music mobile app, or if there are any limitations.
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