YouTube for iPhone and iPad is now Official

YouTube has announced a major update to its mobile website (m.youtube.com) for iPhone and Android devices. Back in 2007, when YouTube first launched its mobile website, it had only a 1000 videos on it converted for mobile devices. YouTube blames mobile browsers and hardware limitations, the reason that kept mobile website from matching the pace with desktop website. However, things have changed, according to YouTube, it witnessed 160% increase in number of mobile playbacks in 2009 over previous year and even more in 2010. YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day.

Coming back to the update on mobile youtube; you don’t have to use YouTube app for iPhone anymore to play videos, just type m.youtube.com in your mobile browser and get a better YouTube experience backed by HTML5. This is another setback to flash community, as the new mobile website is flash free and we assume the prime target for this website is iOS community using iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. YouTube speaks about this update:

• It’s really fast.
• The user interface incorporates larger, more touch-friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go.
• It incorporates the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists, the ability to designate “favorite,” “like” or “unlike” videos directly from your device.
• As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.