The native YouTube app for Windows 8 is the latest casualty of the battle between Microsoft and Google but that doesn’t mean there are no options for YouTube viewing. Hyper is the newest app on the Windows Store to offer up the full YouTube experience and it does a spectacular job.
When you start Hyper, the main view is similar to what you’d find if visiting YouTube via a web browser with the latest “Most popular” and “Top Favorites” videos dominating the screen. As with other YouTube apps or the site, you can login to your YouTube account to view your subscriptions and favorite channels. If you’re logged in, these will appear when the app starts and there are options to further customize how your favorite channels are organized.
Searching for videos is simple and fast with auto-completed results giving the most relevant search terms before you’re even done typing. Once you’ve entered your search words, the most relevant videos appear laid out in an easily accessible group. As with the YouTube site, you can adjust search for relevance, most popular, time frame, category, etc.
Playing a video is as simple as tapping the appropriate tile and the video will begin playing in fullscreen mode. During playback you can add the video to a playlist, adjust the quality and resolution, zoom, adjust volume, and view more details about the video. There are even a couple of features beyond the standard YouTube experience to set the video to repeat or download it directly for later and repeated viewings.
The Settings and Player menus let you control viewing history, rating info, and default video appearance and quality with adjustments to buttons or fullscreen playback.
The Snap views in Windows 8 are great for watching a video on the side while browsing the net or using another app. The experience might sound a lot like what you’d expect from just visiting YouTube on a browser but the added features make it a cut above and worth a try.
Source: Hyper YouTube App for Windows Phone
[Image Credit: Windows Phone Store]