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Why does the YouTube app play better quality than the Safari version of YouTube?

B

Big.Mac.Daddy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2012
629
0
I use the stock YouTube app to watch a video and it looks ok.

Then I go to the mobile youtube site through safari, click on video that I was just watching on the YouTube app but the quality is now bad :mad:

Ive taken screenshots while using both and the Safari ones are definitely lower quality. :(

Why is this? Does YouTube do this on purpose?

I'm on wifi btw.
 
Last edited:
Yes. HQ is on.

Video quality is worse on the Safari version of YouTube compared to the YouTube app. I verified this with taking screenshots while watching both.
 
As far as I understand the YouTube app uses HD quality (downconverted for the iPhone) while the mobile web app uses HQ.

And no, you're not crazy. At the very least the YouTube app definitely pulls in a higher quality stream. It's almost impossible to pick out compression artifacts while in the web app it's clear.

To be honest it won't matter much sooner as the YouTube app is gone in iOS 6.
 
Last edited:
QuarterSwede said:
As far as I understand the YouTube app uses HD quality (downconverted for the iPhone) while the mobile web app uses HQ.

And no, you're not crazy. At the very least the YouTube app definitely pulls in a higher quality stream. It's almost impossible to pick out compression artifacts while in the web app it's clear.

To be honest it won't matter much sooner as the YouTube app is gone in iOS 6.
Click to expand...

Really? So we have to actually input youtube on safari? :confused:
 
QuarterSwede said:
So far yep. It's not hard to add a shortcut to your home screen though and the web app is quite good so it's not a huge deal.


That's a total assumption.
Click to expand...

It is not an assumption. Google has stated they will be releasing their own YouTube app into the app store.
 
QuarterSwede said:
You're assuming it'll be the same or similar app. Most of their current apps are simple frontends for their web apps.
Click to expand...

No, I'm simply stating that it is not an assumption, but rather a fact that they will be putting their own YouTube app into the App Store. It could very well be a simple front-end, but if they go the way of their Google+ app, it could turn out to be a MUCH better app than the one that was included on iOS prior to iOS 6.

Here's the quote from Apple about YouTube being removed in iOS 6:
"Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store."
Click to expand...

Google reiterated the same with a YouTube spokesperson saying the following:
"We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users."
Click to expand...

Source: The Verge
 
SR71 said:
No, I'm simply stating that it is not an assumption, but rather a fact that they will be putting their own YouTube app into the App Store. It could very well be a simple front-end, but if they go the way of their Google+ app, it could turn out to be a MUCH better app than the one that was included on iOS prior to iOS 6.

Here's the quote from Apple about YouTube being removed in iOS 6:


Google reiterated the same with a YouTube spokesperson saying the following:


Source: The Verge
Click to expand...
Lets hope it's of the caliber of Google+ but I'm skeptical. They still think their Gmail app is acceptable. Not for me it isn't.
 
QuarterSwede said:
Lets hope it's of the caliber of Google+ but I'm skeptical. They still think their Gmail app is acceptable. Not for me it isn't.
Click to expand...

The way I see it is that they will see that their design and the changes they made to make the Google+ app on iOS faster, smoother, and all around better have resulted in users liking the app and even giving it 5-star ratings for the current version of the Google+ app, as opposed to their Gmail app that only has a 3-star rating. I feel that once Google saw that users didn't like their Gmail app being just a front-end to the web UI and that it resulted in poor ratings, it then got them thinking "How do we make a better app that users will genuinely like to use?" This then put them on the course for designing the newly redesigned Google+ app for iPhone and iPad.

Likewise, I think that in seeing these 5-star ratings for their Google+ app will motivate them to use the same design choice to create a fast, smooth, feature-packed, and reliable YouTube app that will also get 5-star ratings.

And who knows, maybe Apple is also involved in the design for the YouTube app, as they know it is a highly used app and want it to work well with their devices.

We'll just have to wait and see.
 
QuarterSwede said:
You're assuming it'll be the same or similar app. Most of their current apps are simple frontends for their web apps.
Click to expand...

They are going to figure a way to put ads in their app. With a built in youtube that was impossible.

A youtube app will definitely show up in app store.
 
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