As CNN Money reports, the new “streamlined” app debuted at VidCon, a conference for online videos, and is now available on both Android and iOS. The new design is supposed to make navigating and using YouTube easier while on a mobile device.
The new vertical playback option will make it much easier to view vertical videos in the correct orientation. Currently, it can be hard to get a vertical video to display properly, so users who view such content should be pleased. The number of vertical videos is rising as increasing numbers of people shoot video on smartphones.
The app introduces some other changes too. There are now three main panes used for browsing: home, subscriptions and account. Home provides a feed of new content that you may be interested in while subscriptions contains updates from channels that you follow.
The final page, account, makes it easier to manage your own presence on YouTube by providing more intuitive controls to create and upload videos directly from your phone. You can edit clips and apply filters and effects before making the finished result publicly visible on the site.
Adding music to your videos has been made easier too. You can choose from a selection of royalty-free tracks that you can use without falling foul of copyright restrictions, or you can choose to upload your own if you’re sure you have the rights to the track.
The account page also displays playlists that you have created, your history of watched videos and your own channel page. The entire app uses Google’s Material Design extensively and features bright red accents.
The changes came as YouTube CEO Susan Wojciki announced that overall watch time on the site has increased 60 percent over the past year, making the last 12 months the “best year ever” for YouTube. Over half of all views are generated by mobile devices so it is more important than ever that the official app contains features that will appeal to users.
