Google finally fixing YouTube vertical video viewing on Android

PC Tech July 23, 2015

Less than a minute

Watching a vertical video on your mobile device has long been a pretty crappy experience; YouTube displays it with black bars on the sides.

But it appears that soon, when you stumble upon a YouTube video that was shot on a mobile device in portrait mode, you’ll be able to watch it on Android without those black bars.

According to Android Police, a new version of YouTube will properly display vertical videos in full-screen mode, something users have been requesting for some time.

The feature should roll out with YouTube version 10.28.

It’s good to remember to always turn your phone sideways into landscape mode when shooting video, but that’s easier said than done, right? Now, if you forget it won’t be quite as bad a “sin ;)”

Meanwhile, the change comes after YouTube earlier this month added another sought-after feature to its mobile apps: Support for smooth 60 frames per second video. This brings the mobile apps in line with YouTube on the desktop, Apple TV, PlayStation 3, and PS4.