YouTube Mobile App Gets New Gestures And Playback Controls

YouTube has added new features to its platform to allow users easily control and view videos with new gestures, playback controls and video chapters.

It has added an update, a new gesture that allows users to enable or disable full-screen video. The update is a huge step for the company because previously, users would tap a button or rotate their phone to have a full-screen but now that is not the case.

Users can now easily swipe up on the video window to enter full-screen and swipe down to return back to the standard mode. However, the new gestures will only work when swiping on the playback window itself.

Another big feature that YouTube is adding to its mobile app is a new set of ‘suggested actions’ which will prompt users to rotate their phone or play a video in VR for a better experience when watching a video.

The company has also made captions more accessible by moving the closed captions button to the overlay menu. The autoplay button has also been shifted to the top of the screen, users can also tap on the timestamp of a video to switch between viewing how much time has elapsed in a video and how much time is left.

“You will 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," the company said in a statement.

In May, YouTube introduced Chapters, a feature that makes it easy to skip the entire chapter of a video and watch the next one. Now, the company has expanded the version of the video chapters feature that lets users view a list of all the chapters for the video, including a preview thumbnail similar to a DVD menu.

The company said they are always looking for ways to make it easier to watch and interact with your favourite videos.

They also say it will be working on adding more suggested actions in the future