Tag: YouTube

After a bit of teasing and a roll out to the web, the YouTube for Android app is finally starting to get a Dark Mode.  The update is a cloud-side update which means as long as you have the latest version of the Android app on your phone, you will have the update pushed to you behind the scenes and not have to update your app.  For those that are curious, the latest build is version 13.28.54.

The YouTube team at Google appears to be slow rolling this update out so not everyone is seeing it just yet, me included.  This isn’t uncommon for these cloud-side pushes so if you aren’t seeing it yet, chances are good you will see it today or tomorrow.  You’ll know you got the update when you see a pop up in the YouTube for Android app letting you know it is available.

YouTube TV has added a seventh premium add-on option to their lineup, AMC Premier.   The more immersive version of AMC can be added to your YouTube TV account for an additional $5 per month.  It joins the likes of Stars, Showtime, and Sundance Network in the premium services lineup of Google’s streaming television service.

AMC Premier is a more user controlled and immersive experience over AMC, which is part of the standard YouTube TV package.  With Premier, users can get ad-free watching, additional show content and other membership benefits.  AMC is the home of shows like The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, and Preacher to name but a few.

After being in a limited test mode for the past several weeks, the new YouTube incognito mode is now rolling out to everyone.  The feature allows you to eliminate the virtual footprints you leave while watching content on the streaming service.  For Android users, you need to make sure you have the latest version of the app, build 13.25.56.

The new feature significantly cuts down on the amount of traceable information left when you view YouTube.  All of your activity will not be tracked by the app so you won’t see similar content pop up later when you return to the app.  Don’t want anyone to know about your cat video watching habits?  Incognito mode is your answer.

YouTube is now broadly rolling out the ability for all users, regardless if you are a YouTube Premium subscriber or not, to utilize the app’s support of Android Oreo’s Picture-in-Picture feature.  By all indications, this is a cloud-side change so as long as you are running the latest version of YouTube on your phone (v 13.24.59 for those keeping score at home), you should see the update now or very shortly.

Up to this point, PiP has been limited to YouTube Red previously and now YouTube Premium as a benefit of the paid service.  With this change, assuming that the content creator has given permission for PiP to happen, all YouTube users should be able to utilize the feature.

The new look YouTube PiP (Picture in Picture feature is now rolling out broadly to everyone this morning.  The new design of the PiP is aimed at providing a bit more information about the video you have in the smaller view window such as the name of the video, not just a thumbnail of the video itself.

Now when you are viewing a video on YouTube and swipe down to put it into the PiP view, you will not only see the video but will see the title of the video as well as the creator of the content in a white panel next to it.

And here we go again…. Google announced, literally in the middle of the night last night, that they are going to rebrand YouTube Red and revamp the YouTube Music app.  It was odd timing to say the least.

YouTube Premium is essentially a rebranded YouTube Red.  You get all the benefits of Red like downloading of content, ad-free content and access to YouTube original content like you do today.  The price is $11.99/month and that includes the new YouTube Music.  This too is similar to what is available today.  If you subscribe to Google Play Music at $9.99/month, you get YouTube Red included.