YouTube ditches Stories feature

Image: YouTubeYouTube is scrapping Stories, a feature that let users post temporary updates, starting in June. From June 26 onwards, users won't be able to create Stories and existing ones will vanish after a week.

Stories debuted in 2017 as Reels and were only available to users with more than 10,000 subscribers. They were similar to Instagram's Stories (which copied Snapchat's idea), and allowed YouTube creators to share updates or behind-the-scenes content to promote their channel. However, the feature never really took off. It had limited access, few creators used it regularly, and YouTube didn't promote it much.

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YouTube Premium subscribers on iOS get 'enhanced' 1080p videos

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YouTube is offering its Premium subscribers more value for their subscription. One of the new features includes an "enhanced bitrate version of 1080p," which is currently only available for iOS and promises "crisper" videos (particularly those heavy on detail and motion). This won't be available on all videos, though. It won't be available on videos uploaded at resolutions higher or lower than 1080p, Shorts, or live streams.

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YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down

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After almost 25 years with the company, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down from her role in the company. Neal Mohan, who has served as YouTube's chief product officer, will replace her. Wojcicki said she'll assist with the leadership transition and take on an advisory role across Alphabet in the long term.

Wojcicki was one of Google's earliest employees, where she even rented out her garage to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were building the search giant in the late 1990s. She was appointed CEO of YouTube in 2014 and served as Google's senior vice president of advertising before.

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YouTube rolls out co-hosted live streams on mobile

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YouTube teased this last year but is now bringing the feature to creators. The new Go Live Together allows you to co-host live streams. Anyone with over 50 subscribers can invite a guest to host a live stream with them from an iOS or Android phone. The host can only invite one guest at a time, but they can swap in new guests during the same stream.

You can schedule these live streams through the desktop app, but you can only use mobile devices during the stream. Guests don't need to meet a minimum number of followers to be a guest, but the host will be responsible for guests violating any community guidelines. Hosts can earn revenue for ads in pre-, mid-, or post-roll form.

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