YouTube is rolling out a new voice reply feature that it hopes will help enable more “meaningful relationships” between creators and their viewers.
YouTube is no stranger to testing out new features with some of the latest including AI video summaries and ways to automatically dub videos in other languages.
Not every change has been a popular one, however, with some of the ad updates, such as the implementation of pause screen ads, being met with extreme backlash from the community.
Now, the Google-owned platform has revealed another new feature, this time to help creators better connect with their audiences through the use of voice replies in the comment section.
New YouTube voice reply feature revealed
On December 16, YouTube announced that a small number of creators in the US would be able to reply to viewers by using a new voice reply feature.
“We’re experimenting with a feature that enables creators to reply to comments with their voice. If you’re a creator in the test group, you can click the sound wave icon when responding to a comment > record a voice reply > then post it as a comment,” the site confirmed.
“Voice replies can only be left by creators on their own channel via the YouTube app on iOS, but all viewers and creators can engage with these comments.”
YouTube’s voice reply feature is live for some creators.
When viewing a video on mobile, users will be able to click on an audio recording of a reply and view a transcription. On desktop, however, viewers will just see the comment as a “Transcribed voice reply.”
According to YouTube, this feature is being tested in hopes that it “enables more meaningful relationships between creators and their audiences.”
So far, Google has neither announced plans to roll this feature out to viewers nor confirmed if they’ll eventually let creators respond to videos that aren’t uploaded on their own channels.