YouTube has finally updated its iOS app so that everyone can view vertical videos as they were shot: in full screen. This eliminates the need for turning into landscape mode and watching with giant black bars.
In the past, the YouTube mobile apps stuck to the same horizontal video window no matter the content and added varying degrees of black bars to pad the space. With the latest update, YouTube’s dynamic player adapts to the video’s natural format.
Square and vertical video will fill up the screen, with whatever space remaining below containing the video description, actions, and watch suggestions. Tapping the full-screen icon will now let vertical videos occupy the entire display.
Bye bye, black bars. ?
Now the YouTube player on iOS will automatically adapt to the shape of the video you’re viewing! pic.twitter.com/4jzJ6nPj4G
— Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 19, 2017
YouTube announced plans to introduce this feature back in August, and released it globally to all users today. With more and more vertical videos being uploaded to YouTube, it only makes sense for the iOS app to get support, especially since Android has had this feature for two years.
[via CNET]
