YouTube Announces New Features Planned for 2021 Including 4K Streaming and Offline Viewing for YouTube TV

YouTube's Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan has announced some of the new features the site is working on for 2021.

Today, with video becoming an even more important part of our daily lives, the needs of viewers are evolving faster than ever. To meet these demands in the year ahead, we’re looking to redefine how the world experiences video. You can think of YouTube as a global stage for video: Like any good stage manager, our job is to create the best setting for our creators and the best viewing experience for our audience.




Here are some of the new features planned...

● Easier Navigation: Last year, we launched video chapters to help viewers more easily navigate within a video... We’ll soon expand this feature to automatically add video chapters to relevant videos. We'll also be making the watch experience feel more intuitive, like modernizing our design for tablet.

● Supporting emerging formats: Later this year, we’ll launch a redesign of the YouTube VR app homepage to improve navigation, accessibility, and search functionality.

● Expanding our stage to TV: New add-on option that lets viewers watch available shows in 4K or download them to their DVR to watch later offline. Plus, this option will add unlimited concurrent streams at home, so the whole family can enjoy YouTube TV on different screens at once.


● Creating lasting musical moments: Music fans who love creating their own playlists will have even more features at hand, and we’ll also make user-created playlists more discoverable to others on the platform.

● Bringing a safer experience to children: New parental tools, including a highly-requested option that lets parents add specific videos and channels from the main YouTube platform to their children’s viewing choices on YouTube Kids.

● Putting creativity in your hand: We’re working on Shorts, our new short-form video tool that lets creators and artists shoot snappy videos with nothing but their mobile phones... In the coming weeks, we'll begin expanding the beta to the US, unlocking our tools to even more creators so they can get started with Shorts.

● Helping creators build businesses: We’ve been testing a new applause feature that allows fans to show support for their favorite YouTube channels. This feature unlocks new monetization opportunities for creators’ uploads, and we’re looking forward to launching this more broadly to creators this year... We’re beta testing a new integrated shopping experience that allows viewers to tap into the credibility and knowledge of trusted creators to make informed purchases directly on YouTube. Keep an eye out for this to expand later in 2021.

You can find the full announcement at the link below...

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