Joe Maring / Android Authority
As you might expect from someone who writes for Android Authority, I’m about as invested in the Google ecosystem as can be. I use YouTube TV daily and can’t imagine not having YouTube Premium. All of my cloud storage is in Google Drive and Google Photos, my smart home runs on Google Home, and Google Keep/Google Tasks are essential to my workflow.
However, the one Google service I can’t convince myself to use is YouTube Music.
I tried switching to YouTube Music about a year ago, but I lasted only two weeks before returning to Apple Music. Try as I did, I just couldn’t stick with it.
While YouTube Music wasn’t the right fit for me then — and still isn’t in February 2026 — there is a world in which I can see myself switching to YouTube Music for good. But only if it makes these five changes first.
What's the biggest change you want for YouTube Music? 36 votes Improved music discovery 3 % Filter out podcasts 6 % High-quality audio formats 53 % Redesigned Android app 25 % Dedicated desktop app 3 % Other (let us know in the comments) 11 %
Improved music discovery
Joe Maring / Android Authority
While I have a few albums and playlists in my regular listening rotation, I love finding new stuff to listen to — whether that’s a new album from an artist I like or something that wasn’t at all on my radar. In my experience, YouTube Music completely fails here.
The primary way to discover music on YouTube Music is on the Home page. It regularly changes based on your listening habits and aims to recommend songs/albums/playlists that YouTube Music thinks you’ll enjoy. I’ll occasionally find something like a New Release Mix that highlights recently-released songs, but this is buried under a heap of other recommendations for music I’m already familiar with.
... continue reading