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YouTube gets a new Instagram-like feature

YouTube gets a new Instagram-like feature
Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

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If you were to say that there is one video sharing site that dominates the web, you would have to say it was YouTube. There are other options out there. Instagram recently jumped in the mix with its roll-out of IGTV and the early results show it can be a serious contender in the battle against YouTube’s dominance. So it’s no big surprise to see YouTube adopting features first seen on Instagram.

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YouTube to soon get video swiping on mobile

Instagram and Snapchat have made swiping the popular feature it is today. It allows users to simply swipe their fingers across a video that is playing to move onto the next one. It appears that YouTube is testing its own version of the feature, which should appear on iOS soon.

According to a report by Android Police, the test was first flagged by a Pixel owner who noticed the new swiping function. Rather than being overly complicated, the test simply added the swiping function to the regular YouTube interface. Each swipe forward takes you to a new recommended video and then swiping backwards takes you back to where you left off on the video you were watching first. You can check out a demonstration of the new feature in the video below:

Via: The Next Web

Swiping between videos makes it much easier to choose a new video than having to select one from a list below the video player. It means that there is always a full-screen video playing and resembles the TV-like experience of switching between channels. The advantage to swiping between videos online, however, is that the videos will always start at the beginning.

Swipes make it much easier to binge watch all of the videos YouTube thinks you will want to watch the most. With a massive 70% of all videos watched on YouTube being viewed on mobile devices, this update could see a lot of us watching a lot more videos on YouTube using our phones. If it does, maybe it could be seen as justice if Facebook sees fewer people using Instagram due to YouTube copying one of its best features.

If this sounds like the kind of feature you could be interested in, you’ll be happy to know that it won’t be long until the feature hits your phone. The test was first spotted back in August and The Next Web writes that the feature is ready for a wider release. It will be coming to iOS as nearly as next week. Unfortunately, there is no news at the moment about when it will come to Android.

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney is a news reporter for Softonic, keeping readers up to date on everything affecting their favorite apps and programs. His beat includes social media apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Patrick also covers antivirus and security issues, web browsers, the full Google suite of apps and programs, and operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android.

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