YouTube

YouTube in recent years has been increasing the number of ads that viewers see in and between videos, all in an attempt to get more people to subscribe to its YouTube Premium plan, which removes all ads for a monthly fee, amongst other benefits. If you're a regular user of YouTube, paying a few dollars a month to enjoy an ad-free experience is probably worth the outlay, especially if you...

Beginning March 2021, YouTube officially ended support for its YouTube app on third-generation Apple TV models. If you own the older set-top box, which launched in January 2013, you'll be unable to access the video platform directly via the official YouTube Apple TV app. (You're also basically in the same situation if you own the second-generation Apple TV, which doesn't have an App Store at...

In iOS 14, Apple added a Picture in Picture mode on iPhone that lets you watch a video in a small screen on your device while you continue to do other things on the phone. Picture in Picture mode doesn't work in the YouTube app, although it was possible to watch videos in Picture in Picture on YouTube's mobile website through Safari until YouTube intentionally nixed the workaround last...

The official YouTube app for iOS has gained a new voice search feature that aims to make searching for content easier when you're casting YouTube video to a smart TV. Once you've connected your iPhone or iPad to a smart TV, you can search with your voice via the mobile app, as well as use it to pause, play, and adjust the volume on your TV. Here's how it works. Download and launch the You...

Over the next few weeks, YouTube is rolling out a new feature for its mobile app called "Autoplay on Home," which automatically plays videos that appear on your Home tab. As you scroll through your Home feed, videos will begin to play on mute with captions auto-enabled. Google claims the previously Premium-only feature is a better way to experience new content on the go, and will help you...

YouTube is working on a new feature called "Shorts" that will replicate the short videos shared on popular social networking app TikTok, reports The Information. YouTube's Shorts will exist within the current YouTube mobile app and will see YouTube offering a feed of brief videos posted by YouTube users that will be able to take advantage of YouTube's catalog of licensed music....

YouTube will begin reducing the quality of its videos for users around the world starting today. With a growing percentage of people staying at home for the next few weeks and months, YouTube hopes this new streaming quality limit will keep the video sharing website running smoothly amid the increased traffic (via Bloomberg). This change began in Europe last week, and will hit worldwide over ...

Following in the footsteps of Netflix, YouTube is reducing the quality of its videos in Europe to reduce the strain on broadband networks caused by an upsurge in home usage following the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reports. "We are making a commitment to temporarily switch all traffic in the EU to standard definition by default," the company said in a statement. Standard definition videos...

Google is rolling out a new "Explore" tab in its official YouTube mobile app after several months of experiments and testing. The new tab replaces the "Trending" tab, and includes the same trending content but also links to destination pages of YouTube's existing video categories, including Gaming, Music, News, and more. As Google explains: With Explore, you not only have access to Trending ...

YouTube today sent out emails to customers who are subscribed to its YouTube TV service through Apple's App Store, letting them know that ‌App Store‌ subscriptions are going to be discontinued in March. From the emails:You're currently subscribed to YouTube TV through Apple in-app purchases, so we're writing to let you know that, starting March 13, 2020, YouTube TV will no longer accept...

YouTube is considering offering a feature that would let people sign up for subscription services from third-party entertainment companies through YouTube, reports The Information. Such a feature would be similar to Apple TV Channels and the Amazon Channels option from Amazon, both of which allow users to sign up for paid video services through their Apple ID and Amazon accounts, respectively. ...

Google has updated its official YouTube iOS app with Subscription feed "topics" in an effort to make it easier for users to catch up with their favorite creators. The topics appear below the top row of followed channels and essentially act as filters for content that you subscribe to. The default setting is "All," which lists all videos from channels you're subscribed to, from newest to...

For the first time, Apple will live stream its Tuesday, September 10 event on YouTube, Apple announced today using a placeholder video uploaded to the site. Apple is allowing YouTube users to set a reminder to get a notification when the event begins. It is set to kick off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on September 10. Cupertino calling. Join us for an Apple special event live from the Steve...

Google today announced several new features coming to YouTube, all of which are designed to give users more control over the kind of content that appears on the Homepage and in Up Next video suggestions. For removing video suggestions from channels users are uninterested in, there's a new YouTube option called "Don't recommend channel." It's accessible by tapping on the three-dot menu next to...

YouTube on Thursday announced a new original TV content strategy that will see the Google-owned video hub make new programs available to users on a free, ad-supported basis (via Deadline). Nine new programs will be made available on YouTube this year, with a mix of original content, including a documentary about sports tricks outfit Dude Perfect, and an interactive series featuring YouTube...

YouTube updated its iOS app over the weekend with native support for the layout and resolutions of the latest 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro displays, but as noted on Twitter and Reddit, the home indicator now overlaps the bottom menu bar. Two steps forward, one step backward for now, but hopefully Google addresses this issue in a subsequent update to the app. On the iPhone X and newer, the...

YouTube this week introduced an update to its iOS app, quietly adding HDR support on the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models, as pointed out on Reddit. Both the iPhone XS and XS Max, like the iPhone X, feature "Super Retina" HDR displays that support HDR videos. HDR videos offer up a broader range of colors and luminance compared to non-HDR content. When watching HDR videos on YouTube, ...

YouTube is the latest app to gain a new "digital wellbeing" section in its iOS and Android apps, allowing you to see how much time you've spent watching YouTube recently. Google announced at I/O in May that it would be introducing a "Time watched" section in YouTube, and today the rollout has begun. Once you update YouTube on iOS to version 13.33, open the app and tap your profile picture in...

Twitch, the platform known as a place to watch streamers play games like League of Legends, Fortnite, and Overwatch, is now looking into becoming a "broader video service" that would cater to lifestyle vloggers from rival company YouTube. According to a report today by Bloomberg, Amazon-owned Twitch has decided to "aggressively broaden" the programming on the platform to directly compete with...

YouTube today announced on its Creator Insider channel that it is experimenting with a new Explore Tab on mobile devices, which is designed to expose YouTube viewers to content they might not otherwise experience. The Explore Tab will recommend different topics, channels, or videos that wouldn't typically come up in a user's traditional feed. Explore Tab recommendations are still personalized...

Following in the footsteps of companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, YouTube this week confirmed that it is "experimenting" with a way to organize its users Subscription Feeds that removes reverse chronological order and uses algorithms to "personalize" the video order. The news came from the @TeamYouTube Twitter account after it responded to a disgruntled user (via iGeneration)....

Google is launching YouTube Music next week, shortly followed by YouTube Premium – a revamped version of its ad-free YouTube Red subscription service with a renewed focus on original programming. Announced on Wednesday in a blog post, the shake-up in services represents a splitting of the original YouTube Red subscription model, which gave users both ad-free music streaming and access to original ...

Google has offered an Incognito Mode in its Chrome web browser for nearly ten years now, offering users the chance to disable their browsing history and web cache while the mode remains active. Features like Incognito Mode offer peace of mind since users can navigate to any website without being tracked and without cookies being stored, all while maintaining the same features as a normal web...

YouTube recently began rolling out support for high dynamic range video content on iPhone X, as noted by users on the MacRumors forums and Reddit. HDR videos provide a broader range of colors and luminance compared to sub-HDR content, and the format also supports quality video playback on a wide variety of screen sizes. For iOS users, YouTube videos in HDR can be viewed on the iPhone X, but...

YouTube will soon place more advertisements in between music videos for some users, in an attempt to "smoke out" anyone who treats YouTube like a free music video playlist service and convince them to pay for its upcoming subscription music service (via Bloomberg). YouTube's unnamed service is described as a "necessary counterweight" to Apple Music and Spotify, and was last rumored to be launching...