The YouTube App on Your TV Is Getting an Update
YouTube is making small but interesting improvements to its TV app, with a focus on making it easier for viewers to multi-task while watching videos.
The company announced the changes on its blog , outlining the reasons for the new updates: The player will now shrink and remain fully on screen whenever you open comments or a video description. (You can access them by clicking on the video title while playing.) This is a welcome change for anyone who happens to be viewing a discussion attached to a video or looking at the description without having to hide the content itself. Honestly, I wish this would be implemented in other YouTube apps: I scroll through comments while watching a video, but I wish I didn’t have to rewind when I scroll back up.
YouTube also has big plans for this feature. The company wants to include live results for those who follow sports, which may be of interest, as well as open a storefront for purchasing products from the creators. Who doesn’t need another way to spend money online?
The blog post discussed YouTube’s decision when it came to developing this feature, specifically how to deal with issues such as how to control playback when the player window is resized. YouTube used three different prototypes to test with users: the first removed all playback options and relied on the user to toggle the feature on and off to access them; the second introduced lightweight playback controls in the middle of the display; while the third one overlaid all the controls on this smaller window.
It appears the company chose the first prototype for this initial rollout based on user feedback during testing, but it’s hard to tell from the wording on the blog. We’ll see how it works when the company introduces the feature to us in the next few weeks, although YouTube TV subscribers will receive it in the coming days.