One of Google’s staple brands, YouTube has a presence just about everywhere. Today sees an update to one of the most popular YouTube apps around – the iPhone and iPad app.
Squirting out of Apple’s App Store, this latest update to YouTube goes some way to giving the iOS app parity with its Android counterpart, though somehow manages to fall short along the way. We’re not hugely surprised to see Google favor its own mobile operating system in this way, but still, it’s a shame iOS users don’t get everything the same time as their Android-toting brethren. Regardless, the update’s well worth downloading.
Top of the list of new features is the fact that iOS users can now watch live streaming content, just as those with Android phones or using the web site have been able to previously. This means that streaming press conferences and music events are a go, with iPhone and iPad owners getting in on the action.
The two people who own Google TV units as well as an iOS device can now also queue up content for viewing on the big screen, creating a mobile playlist of sorts. You know, because there’s not much else you can do with a Google TV set-top box.
Users who find themselves simply wishing to see the latest uploads from people they are subscribed to will be pleased to know that there is now a button for just that in the sidebar, too. It may seem like a simple addition, but if you’re a heavy user of that particular view then you’ll no doubt welcome the change.
Beyond that, there are a couple of minor additions along with new performance and stability improvements. We’ve found the app to be very stable already, so we’re sure the update will make it doubly stable, if that’s even possible!
Even with the additions, the iOS YouTube app still lags behind the Android version, but we’re pleased to see that features are at least tricking down to the iPhone and iPad. Day and date releases are always going to be difficult, especially considering Apple’s app review policy.
Before we close, a word of warning: if you use any jailbreak tweaks such as YourTube which tie right into the YouTube app, we’d suggest not updating just yet. Hopefully jailbreak tweak developers will get updates out ASAP.
(Source: YouTube for iOS on the App Store)
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