YouTube Music has begun rolling out cross-device queue syncing on Android and iOS, allowing subscribers to continue the same playback session across phones, tablets, and browsers without rebuilding their listening queue.
Until now, YouTube Music kept playback queues locked to individual devices, which forced users to rebuild sessions even when signed into the same account.
With queue syncing enabled, YouTube Music now keeps track of the active listening session, letting users move between devices and resume playback with the same songs lined up.
This behaviour mirrors features such as Spotify Connect, which has long allowed seamless transitions between phones, speakers, and other connected devices during playback.
Previously, YouTube Music treated each device as a separate session, forcing users to manually recreate queues when switching from a phone to a tablet or another platform.
Google began laying the groundwork for this change in 2024, when the web version of YouTube Music gained the ability to load playback queues from mobile devices.
The latest expansion extends that functionality to mobile platforms, bringing Android and iOS apps in line with how modern streaming services handle multi-device listening.
When switching devices, the last played track now appears in the mini-player, while temporary placeholders such as “From your phone” or “From your browser” appear briefly before normal metadata loads.
A widening gap with Apple Music
The rollout highlights a growing contrast with Apple Music, which still lacks native queue syncing across devices despite competing closely on audio quality and editorial content.
Apple Music users currently need to manually search for the last played song and rebuild their queue when moving between devices, even when logged into the same account.
That limitation stands out more sharply as rival platforms increasingly treat cross-device continuity as a baseline feature rather than a premium extra.
While Apple Music continues to lead in areas such as Dolby Atmos support, curated radio shows, and lossless streaming, queue syncing remains a notable omission.
The rise of multi-device listening has made seamless session handoff more important, especially as music streaming becomes embedded across home and mobile ecosystems.
YouTube Music’s update reflects a broader shift toward experience-driven improvements rather than catalogue expansion alone, focusing on reducing friction in everyday use.
Meanwhile, Google has not outlined a specific rollout timeline, but the feature is appearing gradually for Android and iOS users as part of a server-side update.
For now, cross-device queue syncing places YouTube Music closer to feature parity with Spotify, while increasing pressure on Apple Music to address one of its most frequently criticised gaps.
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