Tag: youtube

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube says 1.5 billion users watch ‘Shorts’ monthly

Despite TikTok’s growing popularity, it seems YouTube’s ‘Shorts’ are still pretty popular.

YouTube has announced that it received 1.5 billion views from users on its Shorts feature, down from the 2 billion users the platform had in April, as first reported by TechCrunch.

Similar to Tik Tok, YouTube Shorts offers 60-second vertical videos through YouTube. The platform launched in Canada, the U.K., Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela in June 2021.

Back in January 2022, YouTube Shorts recorded more than five trillion views over the two years since it’s been active. YouTube recently added advertisements to its Shorts videos.

YouTube Shorts is available on the YouTube app on both Android and iOS.

Image Credit: YouTube

Via: The Verge, TechCrunch

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube’s new corrections feature makes it easier for creators to fix mistakes

Warsaw, Poland – 10.06.2020: Youtube app on the smartphone. Youtube videos and films. Video streaming. Surrounded by true wireless earbuds. Watching films with Galaxy Buds – TWS.

YouTube has a new ‘corrections’ feature that will make it easier for YouTubers to more easily add fixes to their videos if they make a mistake.

Currently, if a YouTuber makes a mistake in a video, they can edit and re-upload the video, add a note to the description or pin a comment with the correction. None of those are ideal solutions — the first risks losing comments and engagement metrics, while the other options are easily missed by viewers.

The new corrections feature, on the other hand, lets creators add more obvious corrections to a video without needing to take it down, edit, and re-upload. The new system will display corrections via an info card in the top-right corner of the video. Viewers can click or tap the card to view more details in the video’s description. Check out the example from YouTube below to see how it looks:

YouTube’s new corrections feature | Source: YouTube

The Verge notes that the new correction only appears to show a card for the first correction in a given video.

While not perfect, the new corrections feature should work as a decent alternative to re-uploading a video. Any YouTubers out there curious to learn how the feature works can check out Google’s support page here. You can also find details about it on YouTube’s ‘Creator Insider’ channel.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: YouTube, (2) Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube’s ‘most replayed’ experimental feature is now rolling out for all users

Watching the core parts of a YouTube video is about to become a lot easier.

The YouTube mobile app and web player will now highlight the “most replayed” parts of YouTube videos, allowing users to get to the crux of the content directly.

According to YouTube, it will add a graph to videos that depict what parts of it are most replayed by other users, which will be helpful when you need to scour through a long video that lacks timestamps or chapter markers.

“If the graph is high, then that part of the video has been replayed often. You can use the graph to quickly find and watch those moments,” reads YouTube’s blog post about the feature.

The feature was recently available exclusively to YouTube Premium users as an experiment but is now rolling out widely for all users on the platform.

While the feature is surely helpful for the viewers, it will definitely hamper watch time statistics for the creators, and considering that a new creator needs at least 4,000 hours of watch time before monetization can kick-in, new creators will likely have to grind harder.

The “most replayed” feature comes alongside a bunch of other updates to YouTube, including auto-generated chapters, which would now show up on smart TVs and consoles running the YouTube app, and a new loop feature that allows you to put an individual video on endless repeat.

Additionally, in its blog post, YouTube also talked about a new experimental feature that will be available to Premium users in the near future. It will let subscribers “seek to the exact moment in a video” that they are looking for. While the feature isn’t available yet, keep an eye on youtube.com/new to know when it is rolling out.

Learn more about all the new YouTube features here.

Image credit: YouTube

Source: YouTube

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Mobile Syrup

Google using AI to bring more features to YouTube

On stage at Google I/O, Sundar Pachi announced that Google will use AI to make Youtube more searchable.

This includes 10x-ing the number of videos with auto chapters to make it easier to find exactly what you want inside a video.

Alongside this, the company will add automated transcriptions to YouTube videos on mobile so viewers can simply read ahead to find what they want in a video.

Overall, this seems like a simple update to YouTube for viewers, but it could be interesting to see how this shifts the video platform’s algorithms if this makes videos easier to search.

more to come…

 

 

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Mobile Syrup

Google is sunsetting YouTube Go this August

Google is getting rid of its YouTube Go app in August.

Those who are still using the lightweight YouTube app, designed for viewers who live in locations where connectivity is difficult, and data prices are high, will need to install the main YouTube app or visit YouTube.com in their browsers.

YouTube says that it has invested in improvements to the main app experience and making it inclusive for the entire community. Additionally, it has improved performance for entry-level devices for those using a slower network and with user controls to decrease mobile data usage for those with limited data.

Due to this YouTube Go is no longer necessary.

Additionally, the YouTube app will let users create and give them an overall improved user experience.

Source: YouTube

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Mobile Syrup

Pokémon Legends: Arceus anime spin-off starts May 18 on Youtube

Like other Pokémon games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is getting an anime spin-off starting May 18th on YouTube.

You can catch it on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.

Pokémon: Hisuian Snow tells the story of a boy named Alec and his encounter with a Hisiuan Zorua. According to the Pokémon website, when Alec was younger, his father taught him that people and Pokémon couldn’t live together, but now he might get a different lesson.

The series is being developed by WIT Studio, a Japanese animation company responsible for shows like Spy X Family, Ranking of Kings, The Ancient Magus’ Bride and more.

Oddly enough, Ash and friends have been on their own adventures that don’t tie into any of the series games. Because of this, we haven’t seen a game-anime tie-in since 2019.

Source: Pokémon Via: GamesRadar

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Mobile Syrup

Picture-in-picture support for all iOS users not coming ‘in a matter of days’ [Update]

Update 04/11/2022 2:18pm ET: It turns out that @TeamYouTube‘s tweet was in reference to YouTube TV and not the standalone YouTube app. Picture-in-picture support for all iOS 15+ devices using the YouTube TV app is rolling out now. As for the YouTube app, picture-in-picture support is still limited to premium subscribers on Android.

Original story below:

All iPhone users running iOS 15 or later would soon be able to enjoy YouTube in picture-in-picture mode, according to a Tweet from @TeamYouTube. The feature will allow you to continue watching videos in a floating window while you use your device for other activities.

While picture-in-picture has been available as a feature on iOS and iPadOS since the launch of iOS 14, enabled in apps like Netflix, Disney + and Apple TV, the feature was never implemented on YouTube.

Back in June 2021, YouTube said that it will add the feature for all premium users, and that it has plans to enable the feature for all users in the future. Now, according to @TeamYouTube‘s tweet, the feature will be available to all iOS 15+ devices “in a matter of days.”

Picture-in-picture availability has been spotty for iOS users recently. Some resorted to using the service on their web browser, while others have enjoyed picture-in-picture on their Android devices since 2017. Knowing that the feature will soon be enabled for all iOS 15+ users is a sigh of relief for everyone who has been waiting for the feature to drop since last year.

This comes soon after YouTube revamped the full-screen viewing experience on its iOS and Android apps.

Source: @TeamYouTube

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Mobile Syrup

Hacker hijacks YouTube accounts of Justin Bieber, Drake, and more

Several of the biggest names in music — including multiple Canadian artists — were targets of a massive hack that saw a bunch of odd videos uploaded to YouTube accounts.

The YouTube accounts hit include Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Drake, Lil Nas X, Harry Styles, Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, and Eminem. According to Gizmodo, the hacker uploaded a video titled “Justin bieber – Free Paco Sanz (ft. Will Smith, Chris Rock, Skinny flex & Los Pelaos)” to Bieber’s channel.

Paco Sanz is a Spanish conman who was sentenced to two years in jail a few months ago for fraud. Sanz reportedly lied about having terminal cancer and defrauded large sums of money between 2010 and 2017.

A Twitter account under the name of ‘Los Pelaos‘ claimed responsibility for the hack and asked for suggestions on who to target next from followers. The account reportedly offered to sell security to celebrities who didn’t want to be hacked. It’s not clear who controls the account, but the profile picture appears to show Sanz.

The video uploaded in the hack shows Sanz holding a guitar the wrong way while singing along to a Spanish trap song remixed by ‘La Mafia Del Edit.’ Gizmodo notes that that’s an Instagram meme account that previously defended Sanz when he was convicted.

Although the videos have been taken down now, they racked up thousands of views first. Moreover, YouTube hasn’t acknowledged the incident yet, while a representative for music video network Vevo did address the incident in a statement to the New York Post:

“Some videos were directly uploaded to a small number of Vevo artist channels earlier today by an unauthorized source. All of those improperly uploaded videos have since been deleted by Vevo. No pre-existing content was accessible to the source. While the artist channels have been secured and the incident has been resolved, as a best practice Vevo will be conducting a review of our security systems.”

As Gizmodo explains, artists’ record labels upload music videos to Vevo through a separate, verified channel. Then, YouTube merges that content with the artists’ YouTube channels.

YouTube has been dealing with a wave of attacks recently. Some reportedly targeted high-profile content creators, publishing cryptocurrency scams or auctioning off access to the YouTube accounts. YouTube has since required popular pages to enable two-step verification.

Source: Gizmodo, New York Post

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Mobile Syrup

Ian Scott says CRTC supportive of Bill C-11 and its enforcement powers

Ian Scott is doubling down on the government’s message that Bill C-11 won’t impact user-generated content.

The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) chair said suggestions the bill would impact this kind of content are “just not true.”

“As it’s drafted at the moment, the bill draws a distinction between the users of social media, and the platforms themselves. It’s clear to us that the bill’s intent is to exclude individual users from regulation,” Scott said in a speech to a media class at Ryerson University.

Also known as the Online Streaming Act, the bill aims to promote Canadian content, govern streaming services with the same rules as broadcasters, and give the CRTC power to make this happen.

But many have taken issue with what these changes could mean for individual creators.

A recent briefing from YouTube said the bill might cause Canadian content creators to lose foreign revenue if they’re forced to promote local content.

Questions also remain as to what power the CRTC will have. While Scott said the bill would modernize “the CRTC’s enforcement powers,” he doesn’t speak about what this could look like.

However, he does address the lack of details in the legislation, saying “being too specific in the legislation” can have problems of its own. Doing so could disclude many issues that arise years down the road before legislation is looked at again.

Scott said the CRTC can only enforce powers consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the organization has “always strived to adopt a light-handed approach to regulation.”

“The CRTC has a long history and a strong track record of implementing effective policies and adapting its approaches over time to meet the evolving needs of Canadians and of the broadcasting system,” Scott said.

“We’ve been doing it for more than 50 years. And we will continue to do so under the new Broadcasting Act regardless of the platform, and only when regulation materially contributes to the objectives of the Act.”

The legislation is currently in its second reading.

Image credit: CRTC/screenshot

Source: CRTC

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YouTube says Bill C-11 could impact the earnings of Canadian creators

YouTube says Bill C-11 could cause Canadian creators to lose foreign revenue if the government forces the promotion of Canadian content.

The Canadian Press reports a briefing from the company that says the legislation, also known as the Online Streaming Act, will downgrade the popularity of Canadian content around the world, cutting into the earnings of creators.

The Online Streaming Act will also subject streaming platforms to the same rules as Canadian broadcasters under the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said the bill would not cover all videos posted on streaming platforms. The focus is on commercial social media content.

“If you and I decide to sing a song together and to post it well, even if it’s beautiful, it’s not going to be regulated,” Rodriguez said at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time conference last month.

The Canadian Press reports YouTube is still concerned the CRTC will have the authority to regulate user-generated content.

“Clearer definitions and more precise language are needed to ensure the bill doesn’t unintentionally scope in digital creators and negatively impact the thousands of Canadian creators on YouTube and the millions of Canadians who use YouTube every day,” Jeanette Patell, head of government affairs and public policy at YouTube Canada, told the publication.

Bill C-11 is in its second reading.

Source: The Canadian Press