YouTube Music is bringing an incredibly useful feature to Android

music on smartphone
(Image credit: Koda)

YouTube Music has finally added a feature that lets listeners save their queues as playlists to the Android version of the popular music streaming app. The option is showing up on devices already, but if it's not appearing on your app just yet, it should be rolling out to all Android devices over the weekend of April 2-3.

As reported by 9to5Google, the option to save YouTube Music queues to playlists has been available on iOS devices since January, and is actually a feature that originated on Google Play Music (remember that?).

The feature works for any queue that's currently in your YouTube Music library, whether that be a queue you've created yourself, or one of the mixes generated by YouTube Music based on your listening habits. If there's a mix that you particularly like, you're now able to permanently save it as its own playlist in your YouTube library.

YouTube Music – how to save queues as playlists

As mentioned, the feature should now be available on most Android devices. But if you don't see it yet, your YouTube Music app may need updating. To do this, simply close the app and relaunch it to see if the queue-saving feature has been added.

To save queues as playlists, open any queue or pre-made mix on your YouTube Music app. Tap on a song within that queue so you see its album art, title and progress in full-screen. At the bottom, you'll see a tab that you can swipe up, with options for 'Up Next,' 'Lyrics' and 'Related.'

Once you've swiped this panel up, you should see a 'Save' icon at the top-right of the screen. Tap that, and you'll be taken to the 'Add to playlist' submenu. In it, you'll see all of the playlists you've already created through YouTube or YouTube Music. You can choose to save your queue to one of those, but keep in mind this is irreversible, and if you make a mistake, you'll need to manually remove the songs from that playlist.

Alternatively, you can tap the 'New Playlist' option in the bottom-right of your screen to save the mix to a completely new playlist. And just like with any new playlist, you'll be prompted to set a name, description and a privacy setting. Tap 'Create' when you're done, and you've just saved your song queue or mix to a brand-new playlist.

A great addition to YouTube Music

Yes, saving queues as playlists on YouTube Music is nothing new for iOS listeners or those who remember the feature from Google Play Music. However, we're glad that it's finally rolling out to Android devices, making the YouTube Music service just that bit more robust in terms of its feature set.

Sometimes, when we're listening to our generated mixes, we'll come across an excellent song – or group of songs – that we're hearing for the first time, and given YouTube's algorithmically generated mixes, there's no guarantee that you'll come across a particular song again, unless you remember to 'like' them.

The save to playlist feature now lets Android users keep those songs for good, easily accessible in a saved playlist for future listens. YouTube Music has become a solid alternative to the best music streaming apps in recent years, and this latest update makes it better than ever on Android devices.

Rhys Wood
Hardware Editor

Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.