YouTube is testing a new way for sharing videos with your friends

What do you do when you come across a video on YouTube that you feel needs to be shared with friends? Most people tend to share the video link through a third-party messaging app, like Google Messages. Soon, you may start sharing those video links through the YouTube app instead.

Google has announced that it’s running an experiment with a new feature for the mobile app. This new feature will allow you to “share videos you love (long-form, Shorts and live streams) and have conversations about them directly on the YouTube mobile app.” Simply put, it looks like YouTube is rolling out a direct messaging feature on mobile.

Those included in the experiment will need to be 18 years of age or older to use the feature. You’ll also need to be signed in to a YouTube channel. To invite others to share videos, you’ll need to tap on the notification bell and select the option to share. You’ll then get an invite link you can send to the person you want to share with. If the invite is accepted, you’ll get a notification informing you that the invite was accepted.

Once everything is set up, you’ll be able to share videos within the YouTube app by tapping on the usual share button under the player. Tapping on the share button will bring up a list of contacts you can choose from. Additionally, you can unsend or delete messages by long-pressing on a conversation and selecting the option you want.

At the moment, it looks like this experiment is only available in Poland and Ireland. There’s no word on whether Google plans to expand availability at a later date.