YouTube Mobile on the 5800 (almost)

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YouTube Mobile, the native S60 client for the video sharing service, has been updated and is now (almost) fully compatible with touchscreen phones running S60 5th Edition, such as the Nokia 5800. All main functions work perfectly, with touch-screen control and support for text entry fields and a virtual keyboard. See below for screens, comments and links.

YouTube Mobile

YouTube Mobile

YouTube Mobile

The only minor caveats at the moment are:

 

  • fast-forward control of playing videos is a bit hit and miss using the new touch-screen
  • videos don't play in true full-screen
  • picking an auto-completed search query from a proferred list works but the display is buggy

 

In addition, there's the continued absence of a way to log in and pick up your YouTube messages and favourites, of course.

There's also (ahem) the fact that the current version (2.0.14) isn't officially available for the Nokia 5800 at all. It's obvious that Google are pushing to get the application fully in shape by the time the N97 hits us next month - looks like they haven't got too far to go. When the developers are done, YouTube Mobile will, of course, appear automatically when a supported device visits m.youtube.com.

If anyone's interested in trying version 2.0.14 on their 5800, you just need to grab it* on a supported device (e.g. an N95) and beam it over using Bluetooth.

Steve Litchfield

* Download as usual, pause at the 'Install?' prompt and boot up Y-Browser. Search for "youtube.sis*" etc. Thanks to Gerry for the reminder of how to do this!