YouTube testing new feature to allow users to zoom in to any video; here's how to use it

By Gargi Chaudhry | First Published Aug 6, 2022, 11:35 AM IST

The pinch-to-zoom is only available for YouTube Premium subscribers to try out for now. According to YouTube, the zoom feature will remain in testing until September 1, giving the platform about a month to take customer feedback and refine the feature before a wider rollout.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, is developing a new mobile app function that will let users zoom in on any video. Users of YouTube may utilise this experimental opt-in functionality to pinch-to-zoom into YouTube videos in either landscape or portrait orientation.

The function, which is only accessible to YouTube Premium users, was discovered for the first time by 9to5Google. In order to gather user input and improve the functionality before a broader distribution, YouTube said the zoom feature will stay in testing until September 1.

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Here is how to access this feature:

Users must launch the YouTube app and press their profile image in the upper right corner of the screen to activate pinch-to-zoom.
Select Settings.
If you are a YouTube Premium subscriber, the option to "Try new features" will be visible. Press that.
Only the pinch-to-zoom function is currently available for testing. To access the functionality, scroll down.
Click on "Try It Out."

There may be a delay between choosing to participate in the test and being able to utilise it, according to reports. Users may pinch-to-zoom in on films at up to 8X when YouTube activates the feature, which takes some time. Now, this is not the first time that YouTube videos would allow us to zoom in. Users of Android and iOS may zoom in on the material on their screens thanks to a variety of accessibility capabilities, while PCs and laptops can zoom in even more easily on the web. However, all of that will be lot simpler and more practical with a native function. It is unknown if YouTube non-Premium users will be able to use the pinch-to-zoom function.

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