YouTube removes 480p video quality cap on smartphones, but not for everyone

The cap on video quality was implemented to ease load on the networks, which had seen unprecedented surge across the world due to coronavirus lockdown.

You can now stream videos on YouTube app for smartphones at their native resolutions. The video streaming platform has removed the 480p (standard definition) limit on video quality that it had imposed in March this year. The cap on video quality was implemented to ease load on the networks, which had seen unprecedented surge across the world due to coronavirus lockdown.

YouTube has removed the standard definition video quality restriction on smartphones, including iOS and Android devices, but not for everyone. While you can now stream videos on YouTube in their native resolutions, it works only if you are connected through Wi-Fi network. On mobile networks, which are still facing stress due to rise in digital services like video conferencing, webinars, et al., there is still a standard definition video limit cap. On other devices like smart televisions, the YouTube app continues to allow streaming videos in native resolution.

On some devices, the default video streaming quality is 480p, meaning every video starts streaming at standard definition quality even if they support higher definitions. In such cases, follow the below mentioned steps to stream videos on YouTube app in their native resolution:

Step 1: Connect to internet through Wi-Fi network

Step 2: Update the app from Play Store for Android and App Store for iOS

Step 3: Open the app and tap on video of choice to start streaming

Step 4: Tap on three-dot menu to open quick settings

Step 5: Tap on ‘Quality’ and select the resolution that the video supports

YouTube to make new exclusive shows, movies free for users from 2020

YouTube's paid option will still remove ads from originals as well as all other videos, and it comes with music streaming privileges.

YouTube plans to make all future original programming available to users for free with advertising, as the video streaming unit of Alphabet Inc's Google seeks a bigger audience for shows and movies that had mostly been restricted to paid subscribers.

The shift in strategy means that starting in 2020, a YouTube Premium subscription will no longer be the only way to watch most original programs, with all users having some access.

YouTube's paid option will still remove ads from originals as well as all other videos, and it comes with music streaming privileges.

YouTube said earlier on Tuesday that the new strategy will kick in next year, but later noted that though it will apply to content planned in 2019, the actual programming will debut the year after.

YouTube has not disclosed the total number of subscribers for the paid offering, launched three years ago, which is available in 29 countries.

It said its move to make programming free was aimed at satisfying growing international user interest in original programming and advertiser demand to associate with special content. The move also gives the company more flexibility in marketing its programs.

Some future programming or behind-the-scenes content may remain exclusive to subscribers, if only for a brief time, a person familiar with the thinking said.

YouTube Premium costs about $12 a month in the United States.

The dozens of previously released shows and movies in YouTube Premium, such as the first season of popular action comedy "Cobra Kai," will remain behind the paywall, the company said.

Article Source BS

YouTube to crack down on fake news by using 'authoritative' sources

In the wake of breaking news events when misinformation can spread quickly, YouTube will begin showing users short text previews of news stories in video search results.

Google's YouTube says it is taking several steps to ensure the veracity of news on its service by cracking down on misinformation and supporting news organisations.

The company said on Monday that it will make "authoritative" news sources more prominent, especially in the wake of breaking news events when misinformation can spread quickly.

At such times, YouTube will begin showing users short text previews of news stories in video search results, as well as warnings that the stories can change. The goal is to counter the fake videos that can proliferate immediately after shootings, natural disasters and other major happenings.

For example, YouTube search results prominently showed videos purporting to "prove" that mass shootings like the one that killed at least 59 in Las Vegas were fake, acted out by "crisis actors."

In these urgent cases, traditional video won't do, since it takes time for news outlets to produce and verify high-quality clips. So YouTube aims to short-circuit the misinformation loop with text stories that can quickly provide more accurate information. Company executives announced the effort at YouTube's New York offices.

Those officials, however, offered only vague descriptions of which sources YouTube will consider authoritative. Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan said the company isn't just compiling a simple list of trusted news outlets, noted that the definition of authoritative is "fluid" and then added the caveat that it won't simply boil down to sources that are popular on YouTube.

He added that 10,000 human reviewers at Google, so-called search quality raters who monitor search results around the world, are helping determine what will count as authoritative sources and news stories.

Alexios Mantzarlis, a Poynter Institute faculty member who helped Facebook team up with fact-checkers (including The Associated Press), said the text story snippet at the top of search results was "cautiously a good step forward."

But he worried what would happen to fake news videos that were simply recommended by YouTube's recommendation engine and would appear in feeds without being searched.

He said it would be preferable if Google used people instead of algorithms to vet fake news.

"Facebook was reluctant to go down that path two and half years ago and then they did," he said.

YouTube also said it will commit $25 million over the next several years to improving news on YouTube and tackling "emerging challenges" such as misinformation. That sum includes funding to help news organisations around the world build "sustainable video operations," such as by training staff and improving production facilities. The money would not fund video creation.

The company is also testing ways to counter conspiracy videos with generally trusted sources such as Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica.

For common conspiracy subjects, what YouTube delicately calls "well-established historical and scientific topics that have often been subject to misinformation," such as the moon landing and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Google will add information from such third parties for users who search on these topics.

Story By BS

Read More

YouTube's new move for creators will help them earn money: Here's how

The YouTube is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.

YouTube, often criticized for not compensating creators well enough, will allow them to set up paid channel memberships, the company said on Friday.


Currently, the vast majority of revenue at the Google-owned service comes from advertising and that will remain a focus, said Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief products officer.


"But we also want to think beyond ads. Creators should have as many ways and opportunities to make money as possible," he said.


Viewers will pay $4.99 a month for channel memberships giving them access to exclusive content including livestreams, extra videos or shout-outs on channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.


Creators will also be able to sell merchandise like shirts or phone cases directly on their channels, the company said.


YouTube returns a small part of its advertising revenue to content creators who regularly accuse the platform of giving them only crumbs.


The site is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.


YouTube says it has more than 1.9 billion users but the figure only counts those who log in via their accounts.