YouTube Finally Updates The iOS App For Vertical Videos
YouTube unraveled a feature that will make iOS users very happy. The YouTube mobile app has been updated and now allows vertical videos to be seen in full screen for the first time.
The black bars on the sides are finally gone. Before this important enhancement, users were forced to tilt the device sideways to visualize videos in full screen. The feature was announced back in August by the company, and today it became a reality.
Android users have enjoyed this functionality for a while now. According to The Verge, this capability has been available on the platform for two years now.
In spite of the dark bars departure, videos that were recorded under the old feature will still be noticeable when streaming video content. For example, the video “Wolves” by Selena Gomez was recorded with the dark sidebars visible.
“It turns out, there are a lot of ‘vertical’ videos on YouTube that are actually encoded with black bars on the sides, meaning they’re technically landscape videos.”
It was necessary for one of the most visited sites to accommodate this feature. As stated by CNET, Snapchat and Instagram have made recording and watching vertical videos commonplace. To keep users interested and on the platform, YouTube enabled the feature.
YouTube has remained a force to be reckoned with. It has to date 1.5 billion logged-in monthly users. In addition, Statista research suggests the site has more than 400 hours of video content uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Bye bye, black bars. ?
Now the YouTube player on iOS will automatically adapt to the shape of the video you’re viewing! pic.twitter.com/4jzJ6nPj4G
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 19, 2017
These statistics get even more ridiculous when you think about the amount of traffic. Approximately, 5 billion YouTube videos are watched every single day. With that amount of traction, the Google subsidiary gets over 30 million visitors on a daily basis.
YouTube for iOS rolling out dynamic player that adapts to vertical, square video https://t.co/a57P2tRnm6 by @technacity pic.twitter.com/PxJGC94DV3
— 9to5Mac (@9to5mac) December 21, 2017
YouTube is more than just a mobile app and a website to watch video footage. It is where you can find just about any type of content. Music is for sure one of the most popular content on the site, with music videos accounting for some of the most popular videos on the platform.
In fact, a Variety report confirmed that Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” recently unseated Psy’s “Gangnam Style” as the most-viewed video on YouTube. The South Korean singer’s video held the top position for close to five years.
It will be interesting to see what happens in 2018.
