YouTube adds ‘breaking news’ section to desktop, mobile app

Google has added a “Breaking News” section to YouTube’s mobile apps and desktop homepage. The feature was first spotted by Android Police.

The news section looks similar to the recommended channel on the web homepage, and as a scrollable carousel in the mobile app. Today, the Breaking News section is filled with videos about the recent Barcelona terror attack. The report also suggests that the feature is live for both iOS and Android devices as well as the desktop site. However, in India, at the time of filing this story, the feature was not seen on either the apps or the desktop site.

YouTube has also been testing the in-app chat feature for a long time now. Apart from that, YouTube has also recently rolled out a new feature for its live segment. Users can now see how many people are watching the live video. The live viewing count is real-time, and keeps fluctuating along with viewers joining or leaving. It is very similar to something that we see on Facebook and Instagram. Although YouTube hasn’t officially announced this feature, it is visible on the desktop, Android, and iOS apps. 

While on one hand, YouTube is adding new features to its platform, it is also ending support to some of its tools. Recently, it announced that starting September 20, the Video Editor and Photo slideshows tools will stop working. YouTube says that the two tools were the least used features, and so are being discontinued.

Source:BGR