Youtube.com gets finally its own Progressive Web App

You will see a large Red play logo in your app launcher. From here, you can open YouTube in a window that is without an address bar and other UI elements, giving you a dedicated experience.

YouTube (Unsplash)

Google already has a lot of its services available as Progressive Web Apps or PWAs. Some of them include Google Music and TV. However, now the company is also bringing its Youtube.com website on the same bandwagon. 

As stated by 9to5Google, the Progressive Web App support for Youtube.com was added recently. You can see the circle icon directly in the omnibox in Chrome at the top right corner in address bar along with a prompt asking you to install the app. This is different from the browser's manual overflow menu ‘Install' button, which has been available since quite some time.

You will see a large Red play logo in your app launcher. From here, you can open YouTube in a window that is without an address bar and other UI elements, giving you a dedicated experience. 

YouTube.com PWA prompt. (9to5Google)

YouTube.com PWA prompt. (9to5Google)

It is possible to perform shelf pinning, that gives you direct access to the video that is playing at that moment. It is worth mentioning that YouTube.com progressive web app comes after the dedicated one for YouTube Music. It's worth mentioning that YouTube Music PWA came back in October 2019, while YouTube TV PWA came earlier this month.

On a separate note, YouTube was recently spotted testing a new way for users to shop from the platform. This feature lets creators add certain products to their videos. Viewers will be able to check out the listed products, and their purchasing options.

This new feature on YouTube adds a shopping bag icon on the bottom left corner of the video. Viewers can click on this icon to know more about the products available to purchase through the product pages.