YouTube is rolling out some small but interesting improvements to its TV app, with an emphasis on making it easier for viewers to multitask while they watch videos.
The company announced the changes in a blog post, running through the reasoning behind the new updates: The player will now shrink and stay fully on-screen whenever you pull up the comments or video description. (You access these by clicking on the title of the video during playback.) It’s a welcome change for anyone who finds themselves casually browsing the discussion attached to a video, or perusing the description, without needing to obscure the content itself while you do. Honestly, this is something I’d like to see rolled out on YouTube’s other apps, as well: I find myself scrolling through comments while watching videos, but wishing I wouldn’t have to rewind when I scrolled back up.
YouTube has bigger plans for this feature, too. The company wants to incorporate live scores for those keeping tabs on sports, which could be interesting, while also bringing in a shopping window to buy products from creators. Who doesn’t want another way to spend money on the internet?
The blog post discussed YouTube’s decision making when it came to developing this feature, specifically how to go about addressing issues like playback controls when messing with the size of the player window. YouTube ran with three different prototypes to test with users: The first removed all playback options and relied on the user turning the feature on and off to access them; the second introduced lightweight playback controls to the middle of the display; while the third overlayed all controls over this smaller window.
It seems the company opted for the first prototype for this initial rollout, based on user feedback in testing, but it’s tough to tell by the language in the blog post. We’ll see how it works when the company rolls out the feature to us over the new few weeks, although YouTube TV subscribers will get it in the coming days.
