YouTube is probably one of the most used apps on your mobile device especially if you like watching videos. But the app itself as well as the video player still has room for improvement. The Android app is now getting an update that will bring new, more intuitive gestures as well as a better video player that should make it easier for you to watch and scroll through a video. The updates should make it a more efficient and enjoyable app for you.
Videos, especially the long ones, will now have Video Chapters to make it easier for you to navigate to the part that you need or want to see. This feature has actually been available for several videos and channels but now we’re seeing it expand to more and also have a list view that you can tap or click and each chapter has a preview thumbnail. The player page itself has also been slightly redesigned with the caption button more prominent and the autoplay toggle moved to a more accessible place.
The app also has new gestures for entering and exiting full screen mode. You just need to swipe up now to watch your video in full screen and then swipe down to exit and browse the app or switch to another one. You can also tap on the timestamp if you want to see how much time is left on the video or how much time has elapsed in a video. You’ll also start seeing suggested actions on the app, like whether you should rotate your phone or you should play the video in VR.
Lastly, YouTube is bringing a digital wellbeing tool called bedtime reminders which should let you set reminders that will prompt you to stop watching videos and get ready to sleep. While Google would probably like you to spend more time on their apps, they are giving users tools so they can self-regulate. YouTube already has tools like monitoring how much time you spend on the app and reminding yourself to take a break.
The new YouTube features should be rolling out to your Android app today. It is also expected that some of these will make its way to the desktop version too.