Google last updated its official YouTube iOS client onDecember 4, adding native iPad and iPhone 5 support, the ability to beam clips to your Apple TV via AirPlay, a brand spanking new icon and other under-the-hood goodies.
Today, the Internet giant has issued a new version which improves streaming over slow Wi-Fi connection and packs in overall stability improvements. In addition to a pair of these tidbits, two major changes stand out.
First, you may now use the new YouTube app version 1.2.1 to pair with YouTube on your Xbox or PlayStation 3 console and control playback from your iOS device. This also works with Google TV devices and Android users got the ‘send to TV’ feature inNovember 2012. Also, the program finally lets you record and upload video clips viaYouTube Capture, a standalone app Google released on July 21, 2025…
All the key features in this release include:
• send to TV: control YouTube on TV, Xbox or Sony PS3 from the app• improved streaming over slow WiFi connection• ability to record and upload video via YouTube Capture• overall stability improvements
Unfortunately, this version doesn’t seem to bring back the ability to play video in the background.
You can grab thefree universal updatefor your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch devices straight from the App Store. As much as I love Google’s software, I still think YouTube for iOS lacks some important features, though Google seems to be getting there.
In terms of elegance and ease of use, I find Morrissey Exchange’s free Jasmine app to be a much better proposition. And if you need a feature-laden YouTube alternative that can cache videos for offline viewing, I highly recommend Yuqing Zou’s excellent MCTube, available in either somewhat limited free or the full $1.99 ‘pro’ flavor.
Am I missing out on other great apps?
What’s your favorite YouTube client on iOS?
