Google is adding support for new gestures in the YouTube mobile apps, making it easier to move between videos. The feature will let users swipe right to go to the previously watched video or swipe left to watch the next recommended one.
It's a fairly simple addition, but it should make navigation easier and faster for mobile users, which in turn means Google can make more money from advertising. The swipe gestures will work during full-screen playback as well as when looking at the video's description and comments. The app has gained support for a few gestures over time, including the ability to swipe down while watching a video to minimize it and go back to browsing the app (and subsequently swipe back up to restore the video), or double tap to skip back and forth in a video.
Interestingly, swipe gestures were first seen on the YouTube app for Android almost half a year ago, but the feature is making its debut on iOS. What's more, Google refused to provide a release window for the feature on Android. On Apple's platform, the rollout starts this week.
Last year, Google added a dark mode to the YouTube app, which debuted on iOS in March. However, despite being promised "soon", the feature ended up taking six months to be fully available on Google's own operating system. Hopefully, this rollout will be a little faster.
Source: TechCrunch
4 Comments - Add comment