YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream

Submitted by Snorlax, 11 September, 2012

Last updated on 19 January, 2019

Description of App

Get the official YouTube app for iPhone and iPad. See what the world is watching in music, gaming, entertainment, news and more. Explore the hottest videos on YouTube with the new trending tab. Subscribe to channels, share with friends, edit and upload videos, and watch on any device. With a new design, you can now have fun exploring videos that you love more easily and quickly than before. Just tap an icon or swipe to switch between recommended videos, the trending tab, your subscriptions and your account. You can also subscribe to your favourite channels, create playlists, edit and upload videos, take a look at what's trending, express yourself with comments or shares, cast a video to your TV and more – all from inside the app. With the official YouTube app you can enjoy your favourite videos, creators and music for free. FIND VIDEOS YOU LOVE FAST - Browse personal recommendations on the home tab - See the latest from the creators that you follow on the subscriptions tab - Discover the world’s hottest videos on the trending tab - Look up videos that you’ve watched and your like history on the account tab CONNECT AND SHARE - Let people know how you feel with likes, comments or shares - Edit, add filters, add music and upload your own videos all inside the app

Version

11.07

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

9.2.1

Accessibility Comments

Mostly Accessible

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some minor accessibility issues with this app, but they are easy to deal with.

App Store Link

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/youtube/id544007664

Developer's Website

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!categories/youtube/mobile-and-devices

Developer's Twitter Username

@googleaccess

Recommendations

9 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Michael Hansen 3 months 3 weeks ago

Options

Comments

Is this replacing the built-in app?

Hi! I've heard that the Youtube app will disappear from among the built-in apps on our i-devices when IOS 6 is released, so would I be right in guessing that this new Youtube app, which we have to go to the app store to get rather than having it already, will replace the app we had till now? Just want to be sure!

Replacement

That would be correct. When you install your IOS 6 on to your device. The YouTube will disappear and you will now have to download this app if you want to continue to use YouTube by a Google experience. At this point I have not been successful in finding a great alternative 3rd party that is accessible to do the same function as the YouTube app provides for free. Unfortunetly, this new app is not totally accessible and is not an universal app. So the iPad users will be disappointed.

I'm not sure this

I'm not sure this accessibility rating is accurate. According to This Maccessibility article, there are some issues with signing into the app.

Signing in

That article is wrong. Signing in worked perfectly fine for me.

Maybe tester didn't try that

Maybe the tester of this app didn't try signing into a Youtube account, either because he doesn't have one or he didn't think of it. I personally only use Youtube for watching videos, and searching for ones I want to watch, and the latter worked fine for me accessibility-wise when I installed and briefly tested the app earlier.

Signing in

Just to hopefully clear up the signing in issue. It is initially confusing because if you tap near the top of the screen VoiceOver says: " Swipe and sign in to access all your videos and channel subscriptions". I initially tried all sorts of swipes with and without VoiceOver to no avail. However it turned out that you can sign in simply by pressing the button labelled "Guide" at the top-left of the screen. A new menu appears and sign in is at the very top of this menu. Select this to go to the sign in screen. Hope this helps. Dave

Verification

That is correct. That article is incorrect. As the above commentor has stated it is accessible. I have no problems in Signing in for myself. However, once you are in the Guide page. This gets a bit funky. You will notice by flicking to the right and left appears to be fine. I am seeing a double pane. If I use my fingers on the right side of this page. I will get other things that VO wasn't finding before. So without eyes I can't tell if this a menu that is being opened? Overall, it is quite accessible with the exception of this menu pane on the right in the Guide page.

RE

AnonyMouse, what is happening here is similar to the Facebook app in the sense that when you open the guide menu, it slides out from the left hand side of the screen but leaves a strip visible from whatever screen you were on before you pressed Guide down the right hand side, and as you say, these elements are selectable with VoiceOver if you explore by touch.

The new youtube app

Although IOS 6 has not been released as an initial release, I still haven't tried it. I know, I'm not one for trying beta software on my IOS device, because it's so precious to me and I will do all I can to keep it up to date, but stable. I don't want to brake it, Lol! Anyway, can you download this official youtube app from the app store now, even if you don't have IOS 6 installed? Thanks

IOS 5.x

Melissa, Yes, you can go ahead and download this app without any problems to your IOS 5 platform. You will just need to be sure to realize that you will then have two apps with the same name! ;) Once you install the IOS 6 on to your device. One of those will disappear because Apple will then remove the native App that was installed on the IOS 5.x platform. It will not touch this new YouTube app intended for those on IOS 6. HTH

my comments after installing and using youtube

Disreguard my last comment about installing youtube. I found it in the app store. I installed it, and I was able to follow the advice that was given here. I clicked guide, and signed in. You also have to click guide, to get to the menu to find your channels and settings and things like that. The thing is, I don't like how the guide is on part of the screen and you have to find the videos with your finger. It's a bit cluttered in my oppinion. That doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. It just means first time users will be crustrated with this app. The youtube app from apple was the best by far, so enjoy it while it lasts. I eventually found out how to share the video, but you have to pause the video in order to do so, which makes sense. One neat thing I tried is the voice search and it works great! I really believe something can be mae out of the app, so everyone might as well install the app and slowly get comfortable with it. I can do a podcast if you guys want me to. In the meantime, just keep playing around with the app, but let me assure you, flicking gestures will not work well on here. Just thought I'd post that and give you a heads up.

some issues with youtube app

hey, Well, I downloaded the youtube app and have some issues with it. First, it's a little difficult to get the play/pause, full screen, and time adjust buttons. It seems to appear, but when I four finger tap to the bottom, it disappears and I don't know how to get them back. Also, there seem to be no simple rewind and fastforward buttons and adjusting the time is a little difficult. None of the normal gestures seem to work either like two finger double tap to pause and resume and not the two finger scrub to go back to the previous page. Everything is pretty accessible, but the fact that I keep losing the buttons to pause and adjust time bothers me a little. If you have any solutions, It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Might be no harm as it's a

Might be no harm as it's a bit confusing, especially for those with no sight I'd imagine. When watching a video, even in full screen, I found that VoiceOver will speak items from your guide menu if you touch the screen. However those items are not actually there and if you double-tap it just toggles the video controls. It's a decent app as you say but there are a few quirks like this in the current version. And personally I'm more interested in getting an app for iPad.

Built-in player API

Hi, The youtube app doesn't support apples built-in player UI, so you're not going to be able to use the double tap method, or anything of the sort. I agree, this needs to be remedied, but I'm not sure how much of an issue it'd be in the longrun.

over all very accessible.

You are correct. it is over all very accessible. I just did a podcast on it. it should be tweeted soon but here is the link.

Some thoughts

I agree, its not an issue that its using its own video player at all, but some of the issues mentioned should be fixed. I say that because Google created a very worthwhile youtube app and I think its better than the original built in app. It is our responsibility to send feeback to google so that whatever issues can be addressed. I do not by any way mean we need to write angry e-mails or demand anything. But it is important to politely and quickly describe what our issues are so that Google can document it and then work on it. If they are not aware, then it'll never get fixed. The double tap seems to work when on full screen and trying to get the controls back, but its difficult to get the video controls back when its in normal viewing mode. Also, a few more buttons like rewind and fast forward would be nice. As mentioned, some of the other pages bleed into the current page; Especially when its in full screen mode.

Can't access favoriets

I downloaded this app and logged in with no trouble. But there is no way to access my favorites. Can somebody tell me how to do this?

a little off topic, but...

Okay, I know this is gonna be off topic, but why exactly is apple getting rid of the youtube app? It doesn't make sence. Why not just keep it there and save everyone the trouble of downloading a third-party app that might not be likable?

the app itself

I don't know about everyone else here, but I used to like the built in YouTube app. With this app, you can't use Apple's standard player API, so no VO gestures for this. Its also hard to navigate. I need to keep taping on the screen to bring focus back to the app. Not sure if its an app issue or an issue with VoiceOver.

The reason apple won't

The reason apple won't include the youtube app in iOS 6 is due to licensing issues. The license they were granted ended. simple as that.

Okay, but...

Yeah, but that's where you renew the lisence if you can. It shouldn't be too hard to sign a new agreement, but that's just me. If you're not gonna have the youtube app, why not just remove the option to upload vidios taken on the iDevice to youtube as well?

I have a feeling there was

I have a feeling there was more behind it than just the license ending. Keep in mind, apple and Google are currently at each others throats, and have been. They're trying to distance themselves from one another as much as possible, as evidenced by apples use of their own cartography for maps in iOS 6.

Yeah, true

Good point there. I personally like google as a search engine, but that's it. Forget their other products. Apple, however, I say bring it!

how to access favorites

when in the youtube app and logged in, double tap guide, then double tap sign in. Once that is done, you can access things like history, subscriptions, favorites, purchases, etc. If you cannot find guide, its probably because you are in a section of the app that doesn't have it. Simply keep double tap back until there is no more Back. At that point, you should be able to see/hear guide and follow the above steps

FlipBoard!

Why not? you say you did not find a third-party app which is accessible I use flipboard successfully it supports youtube quite entirely: - sharing videos - playing videos - liking videos - subscribing to channels but... as far as I know, it's not possible to comment a video through youtube service! for the rest, I find the youtube app not that accessible. I just reported the following bugs here: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/accessibilityfeedback/ 1. video controls are not voiceover accessible. once the video plays there is no way to pause it 2. facebook sharing is impossible. the fb original app opens up but then closes without any question and without posting the video itself 3. it's impossible to login to youtube account, the only way to do it through voiceover is clicking the "like" button the first time and then the form with mail and password appears. i am not sure with this method you completely sign in to youtube. 4. the window is not voiceover-friendly, it's almost impossible to reach correct informations by flicking around bye PS please help me with the feedbacks click this link and compile the form in all its parts, to show google we are many people which find this problem https://services.google.com/fb/forms/accessibilityfeedback/

So is this the official place

So is this the official place to make any suggestions for the new youtube app? https://services.google.com/fb/forms/accessibilityfeedback/ 1.

google feedback link

hi, the link i posted, is not specifically regarding youtube but it is the general google accessibility feedback it's like you would say, accessibility at apple dot com apple has a mail address, google has a form they will not answer one by one to the feedbacks, but I hope they will give everything to appropriate working groups. The matter of signing in, i did not try the guide button, but, I completed the operation by clicking "like" on a video. What about you, some of you managed to share a video on facebook or to pause a video during playback?

Tubeacco

Tubeacco is a great alternative to the Youtube app. I've found that all parts of the app, for me anyway are accessible.

How do you pause videos?

How do you pause videos? Can't find a way of doing it

re: pausing videos

Yeah I was having trouble with that to. as you saw in my podcast if you watched it. the app needs a lot of work before it can be considered to be 100 percent accessible.

Podcast

Could you post a link to your podcast?

re: podcast

Sure. I thought I did in one of my commons but here's the link. Enjoy.

I have used that app but will

I have used that app but will it work under ios 6?

since that app uses the

since that app uses the youtube API in ios5 not sure if that app will work in ios6 when that comes out. I guess we'll all find out eh?

solution for the pausing problem

Hi The app has a few quirks, but I think I figured a way to consistently show the play/pause controls. When a video is playing, there is a stopped progress indicator near the top of the screen. If you double tap that, the player controls should appear. The first time you pause you have to do a 3-time 1-finger tap, or at least I did. Hope it works for you guys as well.

Favorites look to be gone.

I'm using the new and improved Youtube app, and the favorites I had in the original Apple Youtube app are gone. Completely erased. Are these retrievable? They are not showing, and I am signed in.

Some features in the app

I know this comes with using a new interface, but some of the features of the YouTube app aren't as straightforward as in the native Apple app for YouTube. In the Apple app, it was easy to find where my favorites were, and I could easily add a video to my favorites to look at later. I'm not sure how to do this in the Google app. If anyone has any suggestions about these things, please let me know. Also, when I click the "Subscribe," button after watching a video, how do I know I actually subscribed to that channel? When I click the button, it goes to the feed of that channel, but I don't think I've actually subscribed to it. Like I said, if anyone has any advice about these things, please let me know.

Version 1.1.0.4136

Is this the Google that we know of? Improvements with the Voice Over? :O

I am very impress for Google in trying to make this more accessible for people using Voice Over and making that clear in their Update notice. Now include native iPad and optimized for the iPhone 5.

Outstanding job Google!

What's New in Version 1.1.0.4136

* Optimized for iPad and iPhone 5
* Stream videos with AirPlay
* Tap logo to open your Guide of channels
* Add and remove videos from your playlists
* Clickable links in video descriptions
* Improved accessibility with VoiceOver

This comment has been deleted.

good job to google, but if possible, some more work is required

I'm glad that they've made an effort for making their app more accessible. I actually am very happy that Google has taken an interest in directly working towards more accessibility. With a little more work, it can truly become something amazing, but due to some lingering issues, I moved away from this app and have gone to McTube which also has some issues, but is in my opinion, a better youtube app as far as accessibility. I do try to keep an eye out for more updates as time goes on as maybe, in the future, the issues can be fixed. But all in all, good job to google. Keep up the good work and hope to be able to use you again soon.

Version 1.2.1

Google released YouTube version 1.2.1 on Thursday, with some accessibility improvements. While it's not listed in the release notes, one thing I noticed is that search results are now proceeded by VoiceOver saying, "Video Entry," instead of "Video Table Entry." "What's New in Version 1.2.1 * Send to TV: control YouTube on TV, Xbox or Sony PS3 from the app * Improved streaming over slow WiFi connection * Ability to record and upload video via YouTube Capture * Overall stability improvements"

What's New in Version 1.3

Hi all, I don't know how to update the information but I am posting it here just in case anyone isn't aware that Youtube have released a new version for our IOS devices. Note: I myself haven't done any testing accessability wise but I just simply wanted to inform you all of the update. So go and grab it and take it for a spin! What's New in Version 1.3 * Quick access to new uploads from subscriptions via "My Subscriptions" feed on the Guide * Access to Live streams * Queue up videos to play on TV * One Channel branding for video creator channels * Stability and performance improvements

really improved. Just one real issue

Well, Everything seems to be relatively pretty accessible. One thing bothers me and that the the inability to double tap with two fingers and have the video pause when playing any video. Nothing seems to happen at all and for me, it is a little inconvenient. Other than that, everything seems to work pretty well now. I'm sure others will report issues as they arise

Version 2.0

In this NEW version there are some really great things about it. Those with any kind of vision will notice that they have made some new changes to how it looks. I found it to be a lot faster and snappier. I didn't have the lag that I found with it before in the older version.

There is also the new feature of the Picture-in-Picture which allows one to watch or listen to the video as you search around for other things. This works very well. I was surprised that I did not see any kind of lagging with this as I was checking out other categories and such.

The only downfall I have found is the fact that now with every video title is now followed by a unlabel button. It is not a major snag but just a minor one at that.

The unlabel button that is shown let you Add Watch Later, Add to Favorites, and Add to Playlist.

Overall, it is still very accessible and easy to navigate around.

What's New in Version 2.0

* Watch a video while searching for the next one, just like picture-in-picture
* Search for playlists and use the “play all” button for endless entertainment

Potential problem

When I am watching a video, I cannot go to the previous screen. I could not find a back button after a video I loaded came back with an error message. Anyone else having this problem?

Odd Navigation

One of the weird things that is happening to me is that once I am watching the video. How does one get back to the Main page of the app? The only solution I have found and which is odd but works. When the video is playing. Find the More Suggestion link. Double tap on this. This will take to a page now shows a Back button at the top left corner. You would think by going Back would present the exact same page you just left. Well, odd reasons it now shows the Guide button at the top left corner. Double tap on that. This puts me back to the Main page and it will continues to play the video as you look around for other videos to put in to your playlist and such. Was wondering if any one else have seen an easier way getting back to the Main page without this weird trick of mine? I plan to have a sighted person help me if I am just not seeing something or the Voice Over is not seeing all of the elements.

Sharing videos?

Has the option to share videos via Facebook, Twitter, txt, etc. gotten lost ib the sea of unlabeled buttons that the app now has? How do i share now?

HOw do I go back from a video in 2.10

Hi all, trying to go back from a video in the youtube app but can't figure it out. Anyone know a work around? Using an Iphone 5 6.4 and Youtube 2.10 Thanks Daniel

Going back in Youtube

Hi Daniel, To go back in Youtube, while the video is playing, double tap on the video collapse button, and that will take you back to your screen search results. The video however, will not stop playing, the only way that I figured out how to stop the video is too pause it. Hope this helps, Shane.

Sharing Videos with the New Youtube

Does anyone know how to do this? I looked around and it seems as if the sharing buttons have disappeared.