A new tweak to the YouTube app means that you’ll likely be able to enjoy more of the video you’re watching online.
What’s happened?
- YouTube has released a support document that says you’ll be able to get rid of end screens at the finish of videos
- When they appear you’ll be able to choose to ‘hide’ the videos, pushing them out of sight
- On desktop, you’ll also no longer see the ‘subscribe button’
Why should I care?
- If you’re a regular YouTube user, this will be a welcome change as the end of your videos won’t be covered by suggested videos
- Even though content creators often allow for this, you’ll still be able to avoid forced ‘ads’ for other things to watch
Great! So no more suggested videos?
- Well, not quite – this is on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, where you can only remove the suggested content on the video you’re watching
- When you move to the next video, you’ll have to tap the ‘hide’ button again
Why has YouTube done this?
- The streaming behemoth conducted a test earlier this year that found ‘giving users the option to hide end screens resulted in a less than 1.5% decrease in views from end screens’
- It also found that very few people subscribed using the ‘hover watermark’ feature on desktop, with most using the dedicated button below
OK, so what’s next?
- YouTube hasn’t given a timeframe for this change, but it will likely be imminent
- Content creators will still be able to set the suggested end videos and watermarks
- This is a good move from YouTube, and shows that it understands the changing way people are consuming video on the go
- Although changes to the app are few and far between, this definitely sits in the camp of more helpful – as shown by the ‘thank you!’ messages in the comments below the announcement
