YouTube has updated its mobile app with fresh features that helps viewing and controlling videos easier with new gestures, playback controls and video chapters.
Among the changes, the interesting one is the update to enter and exit full screen mode while watching videos. It makes it all a child’s play: Just swipe up to enter full screen and down to exit.
The gestures are said to work even when swiping on the playback window itself.
YouTube, which claims it’s a global community of two billion people, said “we’re always looking for ways to make it easier to watch and interact with your favorite videos.”
Video chapters tweaked
YouTube had unveiled ‘Video chapters’ last May to navigate easily to the ‘interesting’ part of any video without having to manually fast-forward.
“Today, we’re extending this feature to include a new list view that you can find by tapping or clicking the chapter title in the player. You’ll be able to see a complete list of all chapters included in the video you’re watching, each with a preview thumbnail of what you’ll find in that chapter,” YouTube said.
YouTube has also made captions more accessible by moving the closed captions button to the overlay menu.
The autoplay toggle button is also shifted to the top of the screen. A few other buttons have been re-arranged as well for a more simplified look.
“You’ll also notice small improvements to the player, like re-arranged buttons that simplify its look and snappier controls that make any action you take even faster,” YouTube said.
YouTube is rolling out suggested actions, “which prompt you to rotate your phone or play a video in VR when we think you can have a better experience. We plan to introduce more suggested actions in the future, too!”
It has also introduced bedtime reminders, a new digital wellbeing tool that lets users set reminders at specific times to stop watching videos and go to bed.
The new updates are being rolled out to both Android and iOS users.
Source: YouTube.
