Facebook is ploughing ahead in its goals to become an online video destination. The social networking site, which pulls in four billion video views per day, is testing a new way for users to access, share, and revisit clips through a dedicated video section on the Facebook mobile app.
In a company blog post, Facebook writes the new video section stems from the need for a flexible solution to users’ varying video-watching habits. The social site says the dedicated video section “helps people discover, watch and share videos on Facebook that are relevant to them.” While the new addition is currently in testing on iOS, users will eventually be able to click on a “Videos” icon at the bottom of the Facebook app to access video content.
The new Facebook video hub will allow users to see clips shared by friends, or by Pages or publishers those users follow. But more importantly are some additional features Facebook is adding to the section. For one, Facebook will start letting users save videos to watch later in case they don’t have time to view a clip, or aren’t in the right place to turn on sound. This feature seems to be a not-so-veiled attempt at recreating YouTube’s “Watch Later” playlist, which has been a part of the world’s largest video sharing site for years.
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Facebook has also made it easier for users who want to multi-task to watch video content. The burgeoning online video site has introduced a “floating screen” feature where users can watch a mini version of a clip stamped overtop their newsfeeds while they continue to browse the site. This is the same feature YouTube has employed on its Android mobile app, where backing out of a video simply minimizes it into the lower right-hand corner so users can keep using the rest of the app as the video continues to play.
Facebook is also working on testing ads on the web-based version of its Suggested Videos feature, which was introduced back in July 2015 and is currently available to all iPhone app users. The social networking site notes ads will be tested on Suggested Videos for Android users in the near future.
