YouTube Now Supports 360-Degree Videos on Mobile and Web

Google last week took a step ahead and finally introduced the 360-degree video support for YouTube. For now, the support is only available for desktop Chrome and Android app and would reach iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices in future. The firm is also seen to be rolling out some changes in its YouTube app UI.

Viewers can pan and see other angles in 360-degree videos on Android by moving the handset around. It can be also done on the YouTube website or in the embedded videos on desktop with Chrome by clicking the mouse on the video and dragging to the desired angle.

As for the 360-degree video creators, Google recommends few spherical cameras from certain companies that support the 360-degree video and are compatible with YouTube. Some of the cameras recommended by YouTube on the Creator's blog are Bublcam, Giroptic's 360cam, IC Real Tech's Allie, Kodak's SP360 and Ricoh Theta. Also, the 360-degree YouTube video quality can go up to 4k resolution using the recommended cameras.

YouTube is the latest after Samsung Milk VR to bring the 360-degree video content to users. Google firm confirmed the feature in January this year.

YouTube has also been seen to be testing a tweaked user interface for its Android app, with changes for some of the icons inside the application. Spotted by few users (via Android Police), the app now eliminates the hamburger icon on the left side of the app, discarding the navigation drawer completely. The new UI has instead given four new tabs namely Home, Trending, Subscriptions, and your profile.

From what is visible, Google seems to have made the interface slightly easy to operate for YouTube app users. However, the firm has not yet announced the change officially, and it may just be in the testing phase for now.