Android accepts defeat, will now show vertical YouTube videos full screen

[Dirk Libbey]

Friends don't let friends take vertical videos. Our brains and eyes are wired for widescreen. And yet, in this age of ubiquitous smartphone screens, it happens all the time. There's good news today if you're one of those people. Android will now allow videos shot vertically to be viewed in full screen.

Previously Android would only display YouTube videos in landscape mode, meaning that if the video was filmed vertically you would end up with a lot of blank space on either side of the frame and a really small video, making it painful to watch. With the new update to the app, version 10.28, videos will be viewable vertically, so at least now they'll take up the entire frame.

Bias aside, vertical videos are actually becoming more prevalent thanks to services like Periscope, or SnapChat which are designed to only shoot video that way. As the number of vertical videos increases it only makes sense for Android to make it easier for viewers to watch them. In all honesty, this change has been a long time coming. While Google themselves are obviously in the "vertical videos are bad" camp (why else would they have held out so long on this?), there's little we can do as a culture to overcome it entirely. If you're going to watch a vertical video, it's best to watch it vertically.

So vertical video makers rejoice. In fact, we should all celebrate. Although the orientation will still be annoying for people watching on laptops, monitors, and TVs, at least Android smartphone users won't have to suffer innecesarily. There's no word yet on when or if the update is coming to iOS.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/61475-android-accepts-defeat-now-show-vertical-youtube-videos.html

 

[Adhmuz]

Rejoice!

Honestly whoever originally made the decision to only allow video to be viewed in widescreen format in full screen mode was a bone head move, thanks captain Dic.

"So vertical video makers rejoice. In fact, we should all celebrate. Although the orientation will still be annoying for people watching on laptops, monitors, and TVs, at least Android smartphone users won't have to suffer innecesarily. There's no word yet on when or if the update is coming to iOS."

The added screen real estate more than makes up for the lack of proper orientation, maybe flip your laptop on its side and change it's screen setting to portrait if it really bothers you. But when trying to watch on an already small screen it just doesn't make sense for it to force you to watch with black bars.

 

[amstech]

Sweet Nerf gun.

 

[Wendig0]

Developers need to write some code that pops up a message like "Flip your phone sideways, stupid", every time a video begins recording while the phone is vertical. If you end up using this idea, Google or Apple, send me a PM here, and I'll give you my paypal or bitcoin account.

 

[trparky]

Developers need to write some code that pops up a message like "Flip your phone sideways, stupid", every time a video begins recording while the phone is vertical. If you end up using this idea, Google or Apple, send me a PM here, and I'll give you my paypal or bitcoin account.

Or better yet, patent the idea and get paid for it. After all, it's the "American way of doing things". God, I feel sick just saying that.

 

[Guest]

"In fact, we should all celebrate." No we shouldn't. Vertical video is stupid and ugly and should be banned. Fortunately vertical videos seldom have good content, so there is no reason whatsoever to watch it.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I blame Apple... they try to force just about everything to to portrait mode. Most of the videos recorded vertically are done on an Apple iPhone I suspect (wish I could get some facts to back this up). I will admit though there are rare instances where vertical video will capture more of the action.