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YouTube Update Brings Redesigned App, No iOS 9 Multitasking Enhancements

Yesterday, Google released an update for its YouTube app for iOS which brings a redesign aimed at making it easier to access recommended videos and all videos from your subscriptions. In the new Home page, three icons at the top of the screen let you move through recommendations and a feed of all videos from channels you’re subscribed to. Throughout the app, a new Material-inspired UI gives you a new layout for related videos and your profile page, which now offers more visible shortcuts for the watch later queue, playlists, and more.

Unfortunately, Google hasn’t adopted iPad multitasking features in this update, which lacks support for Picture in Picture, Split View, and Slide Over. While I don’t know Google’s motivation for continuing to avoid iOS 9’s changes to multitasking on iPad, I speculated that Google may not be a fan of the ability to keep watching a video outside of the YouTube app, and this appears to be the case. By using Picture in Picture and standard iOS video APIs, users would be able to keep playing a video in a floating popup that would make it impossible to tap on ads and annotations on iOS.

I would have been content with Split View to keep YouTube (and its ad-powered videos) next to other apps on iOS, and maybe that day will eventually come. For now, I’ll have to use apps like YouPlayer and ProTube to watch YouTube videos with Picture in Picture on my iPad.