The Xbox One YouTube app just made the console “broadcasting” concept a whole lot more interesting. Effective April 8, the Xbox One YouTube app is getting an update that enables console owners to upload gameplay clips and videos directly from their Xbox One to YouTube.
This Xbox One YouTube app update comes just weeks after Microsoft announced its Twitch integration blew the PS4’s game-broadcasting results out of the water. In a shorter period of time, no less.
Here’s how it works. Say you’ve just gone on a wall-running killing spree in Titanfall or Call of Duty: Ghosts. Unfortunately, you were playing all by yourself on the sofa, and your cohorts were all busy watching their own TV screens rather than your own exploits. Immediately you say “Xbox, record that,” an audio cue picked up by the Kinect 2.0 sensor that saves the last 30 seconds of gameplay footage to your hard drive.
Since the Xbox One launched, gamers have been forced to save such videos to their OneDrive. It works but isn’t particularly public, or at least isn’t easily shared. With the Xbox One YouTube app that all changes. Starting April 8, rather than shoving that little bit of video into the proverbial closet, you’ll be able to upload it directly to YouTube from your Xbox One.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m growing tired of all the little tiles in the Xbox One interface, but the upload feature in the Xbox One YouTube app my actually make that tile worthwhile. The app will have a “My Uploads” section that lets you edit and add comments to any video on your Xbox One hard drive and upload it to YouTube with a couple of button presses. There’s also an option to just upload raw video, which frankly is more my speed.
One question that begs to be asked is whether the new Xbox One YouTube app will have any impact on the Twitch streams. With the ability to choose exactly which clips and video content is shared with friends, will that become the new preferred method for sharing game clips? Or, will the unedited and live Twitch functionality still be the big draw, since it requires little to no effort even if it does share those less-than-glamorous moments with your Friends as well? Let us know your predictions and/or preferences in the comments below.
