Android and iOS YouTube app gets zoom and clip finder in videos

Google has updated the web and app version of YouTube, allowing smartphone users to zoom in on videos to better see details. Smartphone users can also more easily see which part of a video they want to watch with a clip viewer.

The new features are part of a ‘minor makeover’. The pinch-to-zoom function works in a similar way to zooming in on a photo on a smartphone. Users choose which part of the video they want to zoom in on and can move this frame. The video continues to play in the background. If users remove their fingers from the screen, the image will remain zoomed in.

The fragment finder can be called up by swiping up. Users then see a few frames before and after the playback moment and can better see which part of a video they want to watch. YouTube says that this feature is useful for example in tutorials. The clip finder and pinch-to-zoom feature as YouTube introduces them today are available only for iOS and Android and will be rolled out to users in the coming weeks.

The web, mobile, and TV versions of YouTube are also getting design changes. For example, YouTube adds an ambient effect, where colors in the video continue to nearby interface parts. This effect only works in YouTube dark mode. YouTube has also improved that dark mode by making the dark colors darker. The Subscribe button has also been slightly modified and YouTube links in video descriptions now appear as buttons.