YouTube for Android 2.2 gets an update, becomes standalone app

YouTube, like all Google apps for Android, used to be integrated into the operating system, and as a consequence, updates to it would only come when new versions of the OS were released. But Google is working to change this situation -- it started with Gmail, and now it has decoupled YouTube from the OS as well, making it a standalone app available in the Android Market. Hopefully this opens the door for more frequent updates!

With this new version, you can watch videos in portrait mode as well as landscape, like, comment, view comments while watching video, view channel information, and share videos on your favorite social networks. There's also a personalized home screen video feed and a revamped UI with new playback controls.

That's certainly a long list of welcome additions. So what's the caveat, you ask? Well, you'll only find this new version in the Android Market if you're on Android 2.2, and that's a shame. Thanks to phone manufacturers not caring about software support all that much, many people are still stuck on earlier versions.

If you are on 2.2, you can get the new YouTube by searching for it in the Android Market on your phone, or you can download it from AppBrain.

Tags: android, android 2.2, android app, android apps, android os, Android2.2, AndroidApp, AndroidApps, AndroidOs, mobile, mobile apps, MobileApps, youtube, youtube mobile, YoutubeMobile