YouTube Update to End Vertical Video's Reign of Terror
Note: It's still not okay to shoot vertical video.
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I'm not particularly offended by vertical video. Sure, it's annoying, but it doesn't make me want to pull my hair out. For many others, though, it's a real hot-button issue—so much so that Google has finally weighed in.
A recent update for the Android YouTube app rotates vertical videos 90 degrees so that they're finally displayed in a full-screen view. The new feature will come as a relief to anyone who's ever been irritated by poorly formatted display of vertical video on their phones, but it may also inadvertently encourage some users to continue in the sin of shooting in portrait orientation.
Google's move makes sense, in that it doesn't force people to shoot in landscape (a change that would surely anger vertical video aficionados) and makes vertical videos more palatable for everyone else. Some apps, like Periscope and Snapchat, already use full-screen vertical video, so the latest YouTube update appears to be Google's concession to that trend.
There's no word yet on whether iOS will receive a similar update, but the smart money says yes. In the meantime, iPhone users will just have to deal with it.
But if you want to do your part in actually ending the insidious vertical video trend, consider downloading an app like Horizon Camera (Android or iOS). It'll keep your video on the horizontal regardless of how you hold your phone, and everyone will thank you.
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