Skip to main content

YouTube rolling out new mobile app, crowdfunding option for creators

youtube rolling new mobile app crowdfunding option creators screen shot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For the many YouTubers who operate their own channels and post their own original video on a regular basis, YouTube has heard your call.

The Google-owned video sharing site announced on Friday its plans to roll out a separate mobile app for its content creators, which will allow them to better manage their channels from their phones and even crowdfund their videos.  YouTube said the move was in response to their global satisfaction survey, which aims to garner feedback from its most involved users.

In its first Creator Preview, Matt Glotzbach, the site’s director of creator product management, and other YouTube engineers detailed the new mobile app and how it will better address the needs of its YouTube stars.

“We saw creators struggling a lot with not being able to do basic YouTube management stuff on their phones,” said Molly Nix, a YouTube designer.  “We saw this as a really great opportunity to build something that you guys can use on the go and manage your channel anywhere you are.”

The app will also have a new crowdfunding feature, which will allow fans to pay their favorite YouTube creators directly.  The idea is to give channel users another source for making money rather than solely depending on advertising revenue.

Along with these new features, YouTube is also working on a community captions project, which will allow for crowdsourced captions and subtitles that translate into more than 60 languages.  Additionally, some small updates will include a new comment management system, a way for musicians to share in revenue from their cover song videos, and expansion of its Creator Academy.

And if these changes aren’t to your liking, you can always take to social media to express your opinions, as YouTube will be reviewing everyone’s thoughts on Twitter and Google+.

Topics
Loren Grush
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Loren Grush is a science and health writer living in New York City, having written for Fox News Health, Fox News SciTech and…
YouTube Stories are going away starting June 26
The Digital Trends YouTube channel on an iPhone.

YouTube today announced that it's going to kill off its Story feature — like the similarly named Instagram Stories, basically its answer to Snapchat — starting June 26. That's the last day you'll be able to post a new YouTube Story. And seven days after that, any story that already was live will die an unceremonious death.

That doesn't mean there won't be an alternative to a full-blown YouTube video or a smaller YouTube Short. (Which is, in and of itself, YouTube's answer to Tiktok.) YouTube is pointing creators to "YouTube Community posts" instead, which it says "are a great choice if you want to share lightweight updates, start conversations, or promote your YouTube content to your audience." Community posts essentially are ephemeral updates that also allow for text, polls, quizzes, filters, and stickers.  It added that "amongst creators who use both posts and Stories, posts on average drive many times more comments and likes compared to Stories."

Read more
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more