YouTube adds in-app chat feature for sharing videos

YouTube has added a new chat feature to its Android and iOS apps to allow users to share a video with friends and chat about it in a private thread. "Starting today, you can share videos with your friends and family directly on YouTube. Not only can you share and receive videos in the app, you can also chat about them right on YouTube, reply with another video, invite others to the conversation, and more," wrote Benoît de Boursetty, Product Manager, in a blog post.

The new messaging feature is available via YouTube’s in-app share button, which previously only allowed users to share their videos out to other apps. Users can either share a clip with a single contact or start a group conversation with up to 30 participants — and anyone added to a chat can respond by adding videos of their own.

The feature has been in testing since mid 2016, and was rolled out to users in Canada at the beginning of 2017 as something of a “soft launch.” YouTube says it has made some slight changes to the user interface for sharing, including the way the chat interface appears to users, and it made the video stick to the top of the chat when scrolling down.

YouTube's move is clearly aimed at luring users who have traditionally used other platforms like Facebook Messenger to share videos. The new chat feature is undoubtedly quicker but will it be successful in replacing other preferred means of sharing remains to be seen.