YouTube redesigns its mobile apps with improved recommendations

YouTube is launching new versions of its iOS and Android apps today with a redesigned home tab and smarter video recommendations. Users should now notice larger photos to help better identify videos from preferred creators and channels. The new recommendation engine is also powered by “deep neural networks,” which Google says “can find patterns automatically and keep learning and improving as it goes.”

“One of the biggest improvements is how the system suggests more recent videos and those from the creators you love,” wrote YouTube product managers Brian Marquardt and Todd Beaupré in a blog post. “People who have tried the new system have spent more time watching fresh videos and content from their subscriptions.” YouTube’s app will now show fewer recommendations, but each one should be more tailored to a user’s interests.

Although it’s not a groundbreaking redesign, YouTube is starting to tap into more of its parent company’s artificial intelligence expertise. Google envisions AI playing a big role in the future of internet products and services. CEO Sundar Pichai said last week he thinks his company’s advancements in the field, which include the masterful AlphaGo game-playing system, will help it succeed over other cloud computing rivals like Amazon and Microsoft. For now, however, this type of software is more fit for helping users cut through the noise of a seemingly endless stream of YouTube videos.