YouTube Sharing and Messaging Finally Available for Web Users

• YouTube Sharing and Messaging has been in testing for many months but was released only for mobile users.
• The feature allows users to share videos and message their YouTube contacts, which was available to iOS and Android YouTube users only.
• The feature is not yet live for everyone as it is being rolled out regionally.

YouTube Sharing and Messaging was in development for many months before seeing its release for Android and iOS in August 2017. However, users who access YouTube content on their web browsers were left out. The feature allowed users to share videos to contacts easily and also included a messaging service within the video streaming platform. Users who access YouTube mostly or exclusively on desktops will now find it easier to share videos with their YouTube or Google contacts.

The Sharing and Messaging feature is going live for users right now following months of requests from web users to include it in the web version of YouTube. Users should be able to see a Sharing icon at the title bar when visiting YouTube. Opening the menu will allow users to share videos or message their YouTube contacts. It also includes a neat history button to show every video you have ever shared with your contacts.

Image Courtesy of YouTube

The share menu on YouTube also received an overhaul to match the Android UI. The social layout has been redesigned, and it allows users to select contacts to share videos with when using the Share button located below video titles. The change is yet to go live for everyone, and it is being slowly rolled out to all users. If you have not received the update to the desktop version of YouTube for your Google account yet, check back later as feature rollouts from Google take up to two days to show up for all users.

The UI and feature changes are part of Google’s plans for integrating YouTube Red and Google Music to allow users access to all entertainment content from Google under YouTube Premium. More social features are expected to be added to the platform with premium memberships coming soon to the platform in a few months.