So now there's YouTube app (which doens't allow me to listen to a talk offline on an airplane or background or pay for YouTube Red), YouTube Music app (which I'm not allowed to use at all), YouTube Gaming (which has an UI and UX build by a madman). Then there's AndroidTV version of YouTube app which has severe feature limitations and probably some others as well. I don't really like to be negative, but it doesn't seem that Google has any idea what to do with YouTube or any interest of expanding it to EU and the rest of the world. Not to mention the rampant catastrophe that's ContentID police system that's benefiting only large corporate abusers with no recourse.
So I wonder, will I perhaps be able to watch talks and other videos on an airplane now using YouTube Go? Which subset of functionality will work on this soon-to-be-abandoned app? Does it even address any of the issues that content creators, Google and us users have with the platform?
Try youtube-dl (before the international copyright police C&D it). I'm sure there's an app wrapper that can handle intents (NewPipe? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12591466), and then you can open the videos in the VLC app.
The owners of YouTube do not have it in their best interest to provide you with flexible, no-nonsense tools.
Im uh... not sure what you are on about with the red and download bit. Im a youtube red subscriber, and I can download videos for offline viewing in the youtube app. It also indicates that I am a red subscriber in it.
And none of these apps allow me to speed up video lectures (1.25x, 1.5x, 2x).
Plus, the "main" YouTube app still insists on displaying a small video with tons of crap around it, so that I have to hunt for the tiny and easy to miss "full-screen" button. I clicked on the video to, you know, watch video, not read the captions under thumbnails from all the other videos YouTube thinks I might want to watch.
You also forgot the YouTube kids app, which provides no way to filter it more granular than the expected age target so if you downloaded it to let your kids watch a certain show it doesn't matter they'll be on unboxing videos, hacked pirate content, and weird homemade animations in no time.
Hopefully this will actually work in all countries; I'd love to save videos for offline viewing while I have a wifi connection and watch them later when I don't. But that would compete with "YouTube Red".
For that matter, since an offline video eliminates the buffering problem, I'd love to have the "playback speed" feature in the mobile app. The web version of YouTube supports changing the playback speed to 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x, but the mobile version doesn't.
I tend to use youtube-dl to grab what I want while at my laptop and sync to my phone so that I have things to watch while about. Not a perfect solution, but works for me for now.
Self promotion, but I recently wrote an iOS app that allows you to download YouTube videos for offline use and play them in the background. Unfortunately not on the App Store, but you can still put it on your device through Xcode.
Saving videos sounds awesome until you have that feature (Amazon video app has it for instance). You never think about saving stuff when the connection is good, and when you think about it, it is because the connection just went horrible and you are not able to stream or save anything anymore.
Google still doesn't know what it's doing with YouTube. As a longtime consumer of YouTube videos, and somebody who is actually inside of the YouTube community, I understand that. The "Advertiser Friendly" policy was universally mocked for being absurd, and it is. Then there's the indication that it was behind the inexplicable monetization drops on major channels a few months back. The YouTube team has been seen to do some good stuff as well, like the Community tab, but if they want to keep the communities they've built, and the near monopoly on online video they have, they need to get out of their ivory tower, and actually understand that when they make decisions they have real effects on the monetary income of real people, and that when they change their algorithm or site design, people actually go out of business.
However, at least in this case, they're taking a step in the right direction, no matter how small.
The policy wasn't universally mocked. Maybe you're in some specific subcommunity, but browse around a little. The opinion I heard most was that the policy is understandable (there is such a thing as advertiser-unfriendly content) but people want more transparency from YouTube so they can work the system effectively.
Honestly they could have just left youtube alone, let it generate ad revenue in return for hosting videos, and that's it. No need for youtube red, youtube go, "advertiser friendly" crap. Just keep running youtube and use that revenue to fund other projects.
I'm amazed they had to go all the way to India to figure this out. But I'm often amazed at how little Google understand "social." The cynical side of me wonders if their misunderstanding is all intentional.
As much as this sounds like something I would personally be very interested in, I can't help but think it doesn't fit into Google's ideal of how customers use their products. Rather I get the impression they're pursuing this begrudgingly just as a way to get into the Indian market; the announcement is notably non-committal about it ever being rolled out in the US.
This should be made available every where. But then they can't charge us for offline and background play.
YT would get more views actually if they allowed offline now. It would also help with the puny data allowances wireless carriers are imposing these days. The offline will take the power away (in a small way), from the carriers.
They can provide the same experience as today, ads and all. People can watch YT on flights, while driving and what not. Amazon video allows offline usage today and been for a while.
"While in Nagpur, I met a young man who loved using YouTube to watch WWE wrestling and wanted to show us his favorite video. But after he found it and tapped to play, the video just wouldn’t load"
I believe this is really bad example, as WWE is a "premium content" so you have to pay extra to watch it. Therefore Youtube removes those videos (there is only 2 WWE videos which is from legal accounts).
So it's pretty awkward example just as "the young man in Nagpur wants to watch Game of Thrones with his HBO Go membership but he can't because of he is poor internet connection."
This also struck me. I was surprised that they picked WWE of all things, you would think that video would be region locked and thus not available outside of the US, like a lot of things are.
Yes, but Google is exceptionally good at fragmentation and confusion in regards to products. How many gmail apps do they have? Inbox, gmail, android mail (though this got deprecated), web interface, etc. Youtube now has 2 apps, a web interface.
They seem to like to make new stuff, rather then upgrade their existing stuff. Then every second year they just go through their stack and deprecate 30% of it.
> I don't understand why a new app if this could just be an additional feature in the current app.
Its a ground-up rewrite of the app with a very different experience focus and for a different audience. It wouldn't make much sense as a feature of the existing app.
It’s a step in the right direction supporting offline first, encouraging to see this.
But I’m also a little disappointed it’s a separate app, and country specific from what I can determine. It would be great to see this rolled into the current app without restriction.
IMO, that's because YouTube Go is an app with experimental features. They're not sure whether these features make complete sense for adding all of them blindly to YouTube app itself.
Grr... Is google seeking praise for slightly loosening the shackles?
This "YouTube Go" MIGHT be a media player. It MIGHT operate on files. It MIGHT be possible to share a video via some mechanism other than bluetooth.
The other day I was trying to convince to a user that she should want to own her content, rather than rent it... when I suddenly realized that he doesn't know what a file is. Moreover, he doesn't realize what it is good for...
Once you have a (DRM free) file, it's yours. You physically possess it. That means you can copy it, share it, back it up, print it, pipe the raw ones and zeros to your PC speaker, whatever. The next generation might not get that...
The fact of the matter is that until I was college-aged, nobody taught me more about computers than Microsoft did. I read every .txt file and .hlp file that existed on my C:\ drive. Not to mention the physical manuals... Then I went on to Linux, etc.
So I KNOW what a file is. You and I can have a conversation about mtimes. We can rattle off a list of traits that each file must possess to BE a file.
What the heck is Google teaching this next generation?
>But even as they discover the joys of YouTube, their experience is not great on slower connections and less powerful mobile phone ..
Or on fast connections but with data caps. So outside of wifi, Youtube is unusable. I'll watch two-three videos and I'll hit my monthly cap.
Almost every single issue India users experience is a problem everywhere else. Every solution they came up with would be useful for users everywhere else. It feels like Google engineers live in the SV bubble where unlimited always-on connectivity is a fact of life. So thanks Google.
I would love the ability to leave a video playing on my phone when I turn the screen off. I often will listen to a song but as soon as the app minimizes or the phone goes to sleep mode, it stops.
This is a Youtube Red feature. Not sure why it isn't part of core Youtube (perhaps its related to not being able to show ads to users with the screen off?).
You can do that with safari on iOS if tou don't have the YouTube app installed. It works with any mp4 or mp3 stream too. And you can use other apps, browse other apps or lock the phone and have the controls on the lock screen.
Let it play, minimize the video, switch tab or app or whatever, pull up the bottom controls and click play.
Holy shit you guys, some people actually use our apps from devices lacking an always-on connection! This is the revolution that will give rise to Web 4.0 -- apps that can work without the internet! It'll be the biggest thing since the recent development of Web pages that automatically reconfigure to fit different screen sizes!
> But even as they discover the joys of YouTube, their experience is not great on slower connections and less powerful mobile phones.
Why not just make this the norm? Websites do not need to be 6 MB per page (and that's with an adblocker). Google is one of the worst offenders when it comes to website bloat, including their once-famously incredibly simple search page which is now jam packed with tons of features, both requested and the majority not requested by anyone.
The notion that an HTML 5 web page requires so much extra fluff to accomplish something as simple as streaming video with recommended links and a comments section is maddening.
Just because some of us have bigger, faster phones with more bandwidth doesn't mean you need to make things more complicated.
So can I finally delete the fortune app from my phone? I think this forced installation of tens of useless Google apps on android is horrible. I don't use their crappy services and I should be able to delete their apps from my phone. And I don't want to root because that invalidates knox in my phone, which I need for office stuff.
I'm excited to use this new app but the older one should be deletable.
The "Fortune" app? As you mention knox, I assume this is an app that Samsung force installs on your phone; so I don't really see what Google can do (without locking Android down even more, and I'd rather they didn't).
Google is mostly going in the opposite direction and allowing you to uninstall any apps you don't use [1] -- admittedly, the Youtube app is not one of them on my 6P. But, I can disable it so it's not visible in the app drawer. In fact I can disable all the google apps and have always been able to do so (the only exceptions are non-Google, "system" apps).
Doesn't help if you buy a Samsung phone though....
well it would be cool if i could tag a bunch of videos to be viewed offline in the app.
I have a music list on youtube and sometimes i have for example a political debate that is an hour long, it would be cool if i could just tap on it in youtube to make it offline viewable instead of going through the massive hassle of downloading it somehow, transferring it to the phone etc and then maybe i dont want to watch it anyway..
I want to know who or what will decide what to put in the preview. Will content creators have any control over this? If previews are strictly algorithmic, will there be recourse in case a certain preview misrepresents or spoils the content?
[+] [-] izacus|9 years ago|reply
So I wonder, will I perhaps be able to watch talks and other videos on an airplane now using YouTube Go? Which subset of functionality will work on this soon-to-be-abandoned app? Does it even address any of the issues that content creators, Google and us users have with the platform?
[+] [-] gue5t|9 years ago|reply
The owners of YouTube do not have it in their best interest to provide you with flexible, no-nonsense tools.
[+] [-] est|9 years ago|reply
And offline stuff won't happen on the main Youtube app because politics.
[+] [-] krisroadruck|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jwr|9 years ago|reply
Plus, the "main" YouTube app still insists on displaying a small video with tons of crap around it, so that I have to hunt for the tiny and easy to miss "full-screen" button. I clicked on the video to, you know, watch video, not read the captions under thumbnails from all the other videos YouTube thinks I might want to watch.
[+] [-] Pxtl|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] digi_owl|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fma|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoshTriplett|9 years ago|reply
For that matter, since an offline video eliminates the buffering problem, I'd love to have the "playback speed" feature in the mobile app. The web version of YouTube supports changing the playback speed to 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x, but the mobile version doesn't.
[+] [-] ultramancool|9 years ago|reply
https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpi...
[+] [-] JustSomeNobody|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adviceadam|9 years ago|reply
Link: https://github.com/MrAdamBoyd/DownTube
[+] [-] erikb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qwertyuiop924|9 years ago|reply
However, at least in this case, they're taking a step in the right direction, no matter how small.
[+] [-] erikpukinskis|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] terda12|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brainspider|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ghostly_s|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skynetv2|9 years ago|reply
YT would get more views actually if they allowed offline now. It would also help with the puny data allowances wireless carriers are imposing these days. The offline will take the power away (in a small way), from the carriers.
They can provide the same experience as today, ads and all. People can watch YT on flights, while driving and what not. Amazon video allows offline usage today and been for a while.
[+] [-] the_common_man|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bonjurkes|9 years ago|reply
I believe this is really bad example, as WWE is a "premium content" so you have to pay extra to watch it. Therefore Youtube removes those videos (there is only 2 WWE videos which is from legal accounts).
So it's pretty awkward example just as "the young man in Nagpur wants to watch Game of Thrones with his HBO Go membership but he can't because of he is poor internet connection."
[+] [-] ToastyMallows|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dingo_bat|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fu9ar|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gtirloni|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dubcanada|9 years ago|reply
They seem to like to make new stuff, rather then upgrade their existing stuff. Then every second year they just go through their stack and deprecate 30% of it.
[+] [-] dragonwriter|9 years ago|reply
Its a ground-up rewrite of the app with a very different experience focus and for a different audience. It wouldn't make much sense as a feature of the existing app.
[+] [-] timdeneau|9 years ago|reply
But I’m also a little disappointed it’s a separate app, and country specific from what I can determine. It would be great to see this rolled into the current app without restriction.
[+] [-] tanmayrajani|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zardeh|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] daveloyall|9 years ago|reply
This "YouTube Go" MIGHT be a media player. It MIGHT operate on files. It MIGHT be possible to share a video via some mechanism other than bluetooth.
The other day I was trying to convince to a user that she should want to own her content, rather than rent it... when I suddenly realized that he doesn't know what a file is. Moreover, he doesn't realize what it is good for...
Once you have a (DRM free) file, it's yours. You physically possess it. That means you can copy it, share it, back it up, print it, pipe the raw ones and zeros to your PC speaker, whatever. The next generation might not get that...
The fact of the matter is that until I was college-aged, nobody taught me more about computers than Microsoft did. I read every .txt file and .hlp file that existed on my C:\ drive. Not to mention the physical manuals... Then I went on to Linux, etc.
So I KNOW what a file is. You and I can have a conversation about mtimes. We can rattle off a list of traits that each file must possess to BE a file.
What the heck is Google teaching this next generation?
[+] [-] macspoofing|9 years ago|reply
Or on fast connections but with data caps. So outside of wifi, Youtube is unusable. I'll watch two-three videos and I'll hit my monthly cap.
Almost every single issue India users experience is a problem everywhere else. Every solution they came up with would be useful for users everywhere else. It feels like Google engineers live in the SV bubble where unlimited always-on connectivity is a fact of life. So thanks Google.
[+] [-] qwertyuiop924|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonthepirate|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seccess|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rekuplex|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joncalhoun|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ino|9 years ago|reply
Let it play, minimize the video, switch tab or app or whatever, pull up the bottom controls and click play.
[+] [-] jkot|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amelius|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bitwize|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FussyZeus|9 years ago|reply
Why not just make this the norm? Websites do not need to be 6 MB per page (and that's with an adblocker). Google is one of the worst offenders when it comes to website bloat, including their once-famously incredibly simple search page which is now jam packed with tons of features, both requested and the majority not requested by anyone.
The notion that an HTML 5 web page requires so much extra fluff to accomplish something as simple as streaming video with recommended links and a comments section is maddening.
Just because some of us have bigger, faster phones with more bandwidth doesn't mean you need to make things more complicated.
[+] [-] dingo_bat|9 years ago|reply
I'm excited to use this new app but the older one should be deletable.
[+] [-] gman99|9 years ago|reply
Google is mostly going in the opposite direction and allowing you to uninstall any apps you don't use [1] -- admittedly, the Youtube app is not one of them on my 6P. But, I can disable it so it's not visible in the app drawer. In fact I can disable all the google apps and have always been able to do so (the only exceptions are non-Google, "system" apps).
Doesn't help if you buy a Samsung phone though....
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=nexus+uninstall+google+apps
[+] [-] self_awareness|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] hubert123|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ajedi32|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stuaxo|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skeltoac|9 years ago|reply