YouTube redesigns app; priority is ‘mobile, mobile, and mobile’

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki just stepped off the ballroom stage here at the 6th annual VidCon, the four day convention evolving around all things web video – although it takes some real effort to see past the hoards of teenage fandom.

YouTube is unveiling a redesign to its mobile app, visible right away on Android devices and coming soon to Apple devices.

Wojcicki also announced a redesign of YouTube’s mobile app that allows fans to be notified when creators they follow post new videos.

“The most important part about the reinvention of television is the social nature of online video – the connection between you and your fans”, Wojcicki said. And now the company is introducing ads in the same format, which could capture the viewers’ attention much more easily than traditional ads. There’s a slicker design and new features that are supposed to make it easier to edit and upload footage to the site, which already processes 400 hours of new content every minute.

At the start of her presentation, Wojcicki rattled off a few of YouTube’s most recent stats, including that the number of people watching YouTube has grown 40 percent year-over-year.

Separately, YouTube launched a new app earlier this year specifically for kids. If a user wishes to advertise on a 360-degree video, they will have to use a camera which Google supports. But it is facing new competition from Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and a bevy of other rivals.

YouTube says that total watch time is “up over 60% year over year”, its fastest growth rate in two years. She went on to say that YouTube should be judged by its ability to help creators connect with their community and generate revenue.

First time, Google has unveiled a 360 video format in March this year, so obviously this was expected.

“We’re finally in an era”, she said, “where diversity on the screen reflects the diversity of our society”.