By: Nick Gambino
YouTube sent a convenient update out to iOS users with little fanfare this week. Those who use Chromecast and throw their YouTube videos up on a TV can now control the video right from their lock screen.
Up until now if you wanted to pause whatever video you were watching (it’s a cat video, it’s always a cat video. It’s the one where the cat reenacts the last scene in The Empire Strikes Back isn’t it?) you had to unlock your iPhone, open the YouTube app and only then would you be able to execute a simple function.
Now you can skip back, skip forward, pause, play and adjust the volume all from the lock screen. Seeing as through Google owns YouTube they could’ve been selfish and only sent out the update for use with Google Chromecast but instead they’ve made the feature available for those casting their video on smart TVs and other devices like a gaming console.
The official update states, “Control videos from the lock screen while casting to Chromecast devices, smart TVs, game consoles, or any other living room devices with the YouTube app. Get Play/Pause, Prev/Next and volume controls on the lock screen and Control Center.”
Now I tried this out on my Apple TV and sure enough you can play, pause, control volume and hit previous or next. Now it doesn’t look like you can actually rewind or fast forward to different parts of the video from the lock screen. Not on the Apple TV anyway. I guess that’s why they chose the wording “Prev/Next” on the update.
That’s a shame as I can see that being one of the most frequently used functions on YouTube.
The update also includes YouTube controls on your paired Apple Watch.
You can download the update in the App Store right now.
