YouTube Music is full of features that make it a really great streaming music service if you want to listen to music for free. Besides being able to choose any song or album by clicking on the corresponding cover, besides being able to watch videos and listen to personalized playlists, it is also possible to use the intelligent function of the YouTube Music Mixtape, which thanks to artificial intelligence ensures continuous listening based on our preferences to discover new songs to add to playlists.

In this guide we therefore see the best tricks for Youtube Music, to take advantage of the Mixtape function and to download music, both for those who use it for free and with the Premium version.

1) Search for songs from the text

Every music streaming service has a search option, but nobody can beat Google and Youtube for this feature. If you do not remember a title and want to find a specific song, you can search for it from the search bar by writing a part of the text you remember, maybe the beginning or the refrain. The feature works on both mobile apps and web apps.

2) Customize the jump forward or backward

On the playback screen of the YouTube Music app on smartphone, you can double-tap on either side of the album cover to jump forward or rewind quickly. By default, the jump is set to go forward or backward by 10 seconds, but you can customize it to your liking.

To do this, go to the profile icon in the upper right corner of the main screen, go to Settings and select the ” double tap to go forward / backward ” option. You can choose a maximum of 60 seconds and a minimum of five seconds.

3) Suspend search history and playback history

In order for the smart Mixtape tips to work accurately, YouTube Music wants to record both the searches made and the tracks played in a timeline. If you don’t want this, you can disable the history in Settings by going to the Privacy and Location menu and turning on the ” Suspend Search History ” switch.

Keep in mind that this option is linked to normal Youtube, so if you deactivate the option in Youtube Music, it also deactivates in Youtube.

The same setting can also be found on the Youtube Music site, by clicking on the profile image in the upper right corner and then going to Settings .

4) Start a radio station starting from a single song

In Youtube Music you can start a personalized radio station with continuous music starting from a particular song that we like. The intelligent forecasting service is based on the albums you listened to in the past and those voted with the thumb up key. To start a radio, just press the three-point menu available next to any song or album.

5) Use YouTube music playlists as alarms

Using the Youtube Music app on an Android phone, you can use it as an alarm clock. You can indeed connect Youtube Music with the Google Clock app. Once the Google Time app is installed, open it, tap on the main menu to choose the alarm and select Youtube Music (you can also set Spotify). You can then set one of the recently listened songs or search for one as an alarm clock.

6) Restricted mode (Parents)

The restricted mode of Youtube Music serves to filter and block videos with adult content. This option is available in the Application or site settings and is particularly effective if you are using a family subscription.

7) Choose favorite artists

When you sign up for YouTube Music or when you use it for the first time, you are asked to choose a set of favorite singers so you can get advice on the music to listen to. To change this choice or to reset it from the beginning, you can go to Settings on the app or on the site and then choose the option: ” improve suggestions displayed for you “.

8) Create the Mixtape

The customized Mixtape, the one you see in the top left corner of the Youtube Music homepage or on the app’s main tab, contains the songs you hear most often or that are similar to these and are recommended by the algorithm. If in this automatic selection you encounter tracks that we don’t care to listen to, then you can press the I don’t like button to exclude them. Pressing the Like button instead, you will be able to emphasize that song and the songs similar to that one, personalizing the Mixtape in the best way.

If you want to change the songs you like with the thumb up button, you can open the Collection tab and find the list of “Songs you liked” where the music videos enjoyed on YouTube are included. By touching the three dots button, you can remove the song from the list.

9) Download songs from Youtube Music to listen to them offline

With the Youtube Music app for Android and iPhone you can download tracks or entire albums so you can listen to them even without an internet connection. By pressing the button with three dots next to a song title, you can touch the Download button to download the video or the audio-only version (in order to save memory on the phone). The same can be done by searching for an album and then pressing the download button (the down arrow) next to the cover. You can also download music from Youtube by downloading entire playlists or the Mixtape, going to Collections and selecting a Playlist. This option, however, is only available by paying a subscription to Youtube Music Premium .

10) Manage downloads from Youtube Music

If you activate the download of Mixtape songs from YouTube Music, up to 250 songs are automatically downloaded, which approximately take up about 1.8 GB of memory. You can increase this limit by going to the download section and touching the gear icon to change the settings. Then move the cursor to the right relative to the downloaded songs to listen to the offline mixtape.

To remove songs from the offline mixtape, open the Download section and search for the song to delete it.

To download other music to add to the offline mixtape, you must instead listen to the songs and press the Like button (there is no specific option to add).