We found out in April that a YouTube Kids app for Android TV was in the pipeline, and now that app is finally available. The app, of course, gives Android TV owners the ability to watch child-friendly content from the YouTube Kids service, rounding out the Android TV offering to make it a slightly more robust system. Whether the app is better than the new YouTube update everyone is upset about is yet to be seen.
They all try to kill the age-old TV but end up themselves becoming one. Sort of. Facebook has just taken a major step forward that puts it at odds not just with YouTube but with every tech company that is trying to become the TV of the future today. More than just one single place to find videos on Facebook (it already has a Video tab for that), Watch is a platform that brings order and consistency amidst the randomness of Facebook videos. In other words, episodic content or regular shows that revolve around a theme or personality. This, folks, is Facebook TV.
YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki has spoken out about the Google anti-diversity memo, branding as "pervasive" the sexism in the tech industry. Writing in an op-ed for Fortune, Wojcicki describes her experience with being marginalized in what many have considered a "male" segment over her career. While she may praise Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who set up the company in Wojcicki's garage back in 1998, she doesn't shy from criticizing the "unfounded bias" that is still present across the industry.
In its present form, sharing a YouTube video from the service's mobile app requires the user to tap the 'Share' button, then choose a third-party app through which to share the videos -- WhatsApp, Facebook, or something similar. That ends now. YouTube has decided to bake messaging directly within the app, allowing users to share videos with friends without leaving the app.
The YouTube Music app was just on the receiving end of a new update, and with it comes a special new feature specifically for YouTube Red subscribers. Those with a subscription can now save playlists, songs, and albums for offline access, shedding the need to use data when out and about where WiFi connections aren't available. The update is available now.
Earlier in the summer, YouTube announced a four-pronged plan to combat online terrorism and the promotion of violent extremism on its platform. The four different strategies YouTube announced include both machine learning algorithms and review by real people, suggesting that YouTube is trying to tackle this issue from multiple angles. YouTube has given us an update on this initiative, telling users how things are going one month later.
Google will soon be consolidating its music streaming strategy, which, in all honesty, is a long time coming. Almost like its confusing assortment of messaging services, music in Google can come from a variety of sources. One is the more obvious Google Play Music, but YouTube, which is normally about streaming videos, also does have music-related offering, including YouTube Red. Soon, however, there might only be one, if YouTube’s head of music, Lyor Cohen, sees it through.
YouTube TV is now available in 10 additional markets, representing a big uptick in the number of still-limited regions in which the livestreaming television service is available. YouTube TV is, in case you hadn't heard, Google's own alternative to DirecTV NOW, Hulu Live TV, PlayStation Vue, and Sling TV, giving consumers access to (in this case) a skinny bundle of channels delivered straight over the Internet.
YouTube is arguably the biggest source of streaming multimedia, video or audio, on the Internet but its viewing experience on mobile, even on Google’s own Android, leaves much to be desired. We are almost at the mercy of how Google dictates mobile users should experience YouTube, which isn’t really that much compared to what you can do on the desktop. There are, however, a few enterprising and daring developers who are giving users a bit more control. Like this NewPipes app that even lets you slow down or speed up YouTube vids, whether Google allows it or not.
Google is testing a new feature on YouTube that will greatly enhance the browsing experience: animated video thumbnails that offer a snippet of what the video contains. This experiment is arriving for only some users that access the service on desktop, though we may see them expand to everyone in the future. The preview creation process is automated for now; the creators themselves aren't 'currently' able to create the previews themselves.
This past week the folks responsible for making Star Wars a fun place to be for all people released a series of short episodes. These episodes were called Star Wars Forces of Destiny, and they contained all the most female of heroes in the Star Wars universe. These episodes are very, very short and don't have any mega-massive impact on the Star Wars canon - but they are super fun and quick to watch.
If you're both a YouTube and an Android TV user, it has been a while since you've felt any love from Google's video platform. The YouTube app for Android TV went a long while without any updates, but that has finally changed; the new version brings a major overhaul of the user interface, adding some new features into the mix. If you've used the newer YouTube app on some other streaming devices, you'll have a good idea about what to expect.
