Latest YouTube experiment now lets you zoom into specific parts of videos
YouTubehas adapted its video format to the vast array of aspect ratios and resolutions Android smartphones come with these days. Right as bezel-less smartphones with tall aspect ratios started becoming popular, YouTube started allowing users to stretch their videos to fit that taller format. Likewise, the app also supports multiple resolutions and eventechnologies like HDR. If you’re feeling more adventurous than just what the default options give you, though, YouTube is now testing an option to freely zoom into any parts of a YouTube video on your smartphone.
The new feature is listed on YouTube’sexperimental features site. Once you’ve enabled it, you can pinch to zoom into specific parts of a video and pan through the video feed using your finger. Currently, you canpinch into a videoto expand it to fit the full width of a taller (18:9, 19.5:9, 20:9) smartphone display, but that’s the closest you could get to zooming. By contrast, this new feature lets you look more closely into a specific part of a video.
This is anexperimental YouTube feature, so it’s not something you’ll find on your phone unexpectedly in an A/B test-like fashion. Instead, it’s a YouTube Premium perk. Premium users can opt in to try it out and give feedback to Google. The feature is also only available for a limited time — you’ll be able to use it until September 1st, at which point it will likely be removed. Afterward, Google might decide to roll it out as a feature for everyone, or it might opt to scrap it completely.
If you want to check it out, confirm you’re subscribed to YouTube Premium (which will also give you ad-free videos, downloads, and background playing on both YouTube and YouTube Music). If you don’t feel like subscribing, you’ll need to wait and see if Google rolls this out to everyone once testing is finished.
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This article is sponsored by Total Wireless.
