YouTube Music adds AI radio to iPhone and Gemini Live gets a smaller look before Astra arrives
YouTube Music has brought its cool AI-powered “Ask Music” radio feature to iPhone and iPad users after starting on Android last September. Once it’s ready for you, check the Home tab. Near the top, you’ll find an “Ask for music” section. It shows a list of 10 ideas you can tap to instantly create a personalized radio station. There’s also a spot called “Ask any way you like” where you can type or say what mood, activity, or vibe you want to hear. Short or long ideas both work fine, according to YouTube’s examples.
After you pick something, YouTube Music takes a moment to build your AI radio. You’ll see the first three songs pop up, and it starts playing right away. You can save it with “Add to library,” and it even comes with a short, fun description. This adds to the Music Tuner tool, where you choose artists and tweak settings like variety and discovery. Find it in the Library tab under the “New” button, then hit “Radio.” You’ll need a YouTube Music or Music Premium account to use Ask Music. It’s live in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia as of December, with the latest iOS update (version 8.10+).
Meanwhile, Gemini Live on Android is getting a smaller, simpler design before Astra’s video and screen-sharing features launch later this month. The big “Hold” and “End” buttons are now tiny pill shapes, cut to half their old size. They sit in the middle for now but will shift right when the new video icons arrive. Google also ditched the button labels, freeing up space at the top for things like “Talk Live with” and Astra’s video. This fresh look is showing up in the Google app beta (version 16.10) on Android.
No word yet on Astra hitting Gemini Live for iPhone. In other news, Google says Deep Research is fully available on mobile now and has doubled free monthly reports for Gemini users. Plus, the new 2.0 Flash Thinking model is faster, connects to apps, and lets you upload files. Personalization is rolling out more widely too, though not everyone has free Gems access yet.