This year, Samsung is trying to do well by Galaxy Z Flip owners and is rolling out new features and, based on Samsung’s announcement, could just be the start of more Flex Mode compatible apps for the foldable phone.

Earlier this year, Samsung released an update to the Galaxy Z Flip that also added a Flex Mode for its own camera app. In a nutshell, this splits the app’s UI into two so that you could prop up the phone at an angle, using the lower half as a stand while the upper half acts as your viewfinder. It is a simple yet ingenious use of the phone’s form factor and it’s reassuring that Samsung is now making another step forward with it.

This time, it’s announcing that the YouTube app has been updated to support this same Flex Mode layout. When folded at a right angle, the upper half lets you watch videos uninterrupted while you browse through YouTube independently on the lower half of the screen. Samsung promises that this mode is optimised for all sorts of YouTube video sizes and formats, though a typical 16:9 landscape video is clearly not that comfortable to look at.

Samsung boasts that this new YouTube feature is the fruit of its collaboration with Google, something that would have sounded almost unbelievable a few years back. More importantly, Flex Mode is available in the Android Support Library itself, allowing other app developers to add support for the Galaxy Z Flip. Provided they’re willing to do the work, of course.

The company also proudly described how working together with Google has made it possible to bring features like RCS, Live Caption, and Google Duo integration into its Galaxy phones. While an impressive achievement given Samsung’s reputation, it should really be the standard for all Android OEMs anyway, not just a notable and praiseworthy exception.

This practice will only be put in place for one month, assuming nothing changes in the coming weeks, and is intended to reduce the strain of internet traffic spurred by the coronavirus outbreak. Other video companies have rolled out similar measures in some places.

The quarantines and lockdowns taking place around the world have resulted in a huge number of people who are home and streaming videos all day long. Netflix and a number of other video companies recently confirmed reducing bitrates or other similar measures to reduce the strain on Internet infrastructure during peak streaming times in South Africa.

In an update on the matter, Bloomberg reports that YouTube will default to standard definition on videos globally until the end of April. Users will need to manually increase the video resolution to HD or 4K if they want a higher-quality stream. The change will start to roll out over ‘coming days.’

In the same breath, YouTube introduced their very own online concert dubbed #WithMe. The festival, which kicked off last weekend, has already featured LIVE performances from household African names like Nadia Nakai, Distruction Boyz, Gigi Lamayne and Asa on their respective YouTube channels.

According to Addy Awofisayo, content partnership manager for YouTube Africa; “The Stay Home…#WithMe online music festival seeks to support the well-being of our community, who are increasingly enduring this disease in isolation – a state that can affect people’s mental, emotional and spiritual health,”

Performances will take place this Saturday and Sunday between 2 PM and 10 PM Central Africa Time. The YouTube Stay Home…#WithMe festival lineup (including previous shows) can be seen here.

This year’s video shows the most-liked videos of the year 2019 with as little curation as possible. That comes with a few caveats, the first of which is “geo-restricted content.” Per YouTube, the list of most-liked Creator Videos includes videos uploaded in 2019, with “geo-restricted content that would prevent Rewind from being viewable globally” removed from the list.

YouTube Rewind 2019 top 10 categories include Most Liked Creator Videos, Most Liked Music Videos, Most Liked Dance Videos (only top 5), Most Viewed Games (top 5), Most Liked Beauty Videos (top 5), and Top Breakout Creators. There was also a Most Viewed Creators category.

The top trending videos on YouTube for 2019 are based on views, shares, comments, likes and more. YouTube Rewind brings together the biggest viral videos featuring today’s biggest YouTube stars, mainstream and current affairs personalities.

Top 15 Videos watched in South Africa in 2019, excluding major music labels

1. The Ellen Show – Trevor Noah Plays ‘Who’d You Rather?’
2. Anton Koen – Wheel and Car Thief Syndicate Apprehended by NoJack Baby Beast – Assisted by The Avenger
3. Lasizwe Dambuza – South African Drive-Thru’s ( The difference between K.F.C vs MacD vs Chicken Lick… – Lasizwe
4. Trendz RSA – MAMLAMBO FROM UZALO HER LAVISH LIFESTYLE
5. Gemini Blessed TV – Uzalo Actors & Their Partners/Kids in Real Life
6. Multimedia LIVE – Mzansi shooketh after video of pastor bringing ‘dead man’ back to life goes viral
7. Trend Wave – 10 MOST FUNNY PENALTY KICKS IN FOOTBALL
8. VolcanoShow – Match Chain Reaction Amazing Fire Domino VOLCANO ERUPTION
9. SuperSport – UEFA Champions League | Liverpool vs Barcelona | Highlights
10. America’s Got Talent – DJ Arch Jr: The World’s Youngest DJ Delivers Jaw-Dropping Act – America’s Got Talent: The Champions
11. MarkAngelComedy – COMMANDER (Mark Angel Comedy) (Episode 193)
12. carwow – AMG A35 v BMW M140i v Golf R v Audi S3 v Focus RS – DRAG RACE, ROLLING RACE & BRAKE TEST
13. Beastly – I Was Spat Out By A Whale | SNAPPED IN THE WILD
14. Power Vision – Experiment: Coca Cola and Mentos
15. Mongameli Tv – KWESTA’s WEDDING (FULL)

Top 15 Music Videos watched by South Africans in 2019

1. Sjava – Umama (Official Music Video) (Prod. Mace)
2. Sam Smith, Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
3. Nasty C – SMA (Vol. 1) ft. Rowlene
4. Ricus Nel – Boerepompie ft. Snotkop
5. Biggy – Dames
6. Blaq Diamond – Ibhanoyi (Official Music Video)
7. Prince Kaybee – Fetch Your Life ft. Msaki
8. Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello – Señorita
9. Cardi B & Bruno Mars – Please Me (Official Video)
10. Lil Nas X – Old Town Road (Official Movie) ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
11. Prince Kaybee – Gugulethu ft. Indlovukazi, Supta, Afro Brothers
12. Ariana Grande – 7 rings
13. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care [Official Video]
14. Billie Eilish – bad guy
15. SbuNoah – Ewe Getsemane (Live)

Earlier on this week it tried to give itself an edge by rolling out a feature it’s unique situated to deliver. If you’re a YouTube Music subscriber, you’ll now be able to switch between audio-only tracks and music videos whenever you wish.

Simply put, this means that if you’re listening to a track and you decide you’d like to watch the music video for that song, you don’t need to switch apps to do so. Obviously, this feature doesn’t work with every single song on the service, but Google says that it’s already “perfectly time-matched” more than five million music videos to their audio-only tracks, so you can switch at any time during the song without interruption.

If the track you’re listening to has an accompanying music video that’s been time-matched, you’ll see a video button pop up at the top of the screen. Tapping that button with switch you to the music video, with another tap sending you back to the audio track.

YouTube also says that it feature is a good way to avoid sitting through all of the additional stuff that sometimes comes along with music videos, such as long introductions. If you’re not interested in watching music videos at all, you can go into settings and toggle this functionality by turning “Don’t play music videos” on.

You’ll find this feature in both the iOS and Android apps for YouTube Music, as long as it’s updated to the most latest version. So, make sure you’re all updated and take it for a spin.

We’ve tested them all to find out which one most successfully tiptoes the line between essential functionality and a massive feature list that will have you scratching your head. One app that stood out for us is local initiative Tuluntulu from Pierre van der Hoven. The app was rated as one of South Africa’s top 10 start-up companies this year with ten unique channels that are available 24/7. The content ranges from international news, African documentaries to fashion and music channels.

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For years, companies have been trying to bring rich, video content into the palm of your hand, onto the smallest and sometimes least best screen in your disposal — the cell phone. As internet video (and sites built around it like YouTube) have grown in prominence, that push has only increased, with video streaming apps like YouTube, Roku and Hululu’s efforts, as well as Google’s G+ and hangouts offerings, trying to easily bring internet video to your mobile. It’s a problem that a new company, led by Pierre, is attempting to solve with Tuluntulu: a software that’s meant to bring a more lean-back, TV-style streaming and watching experience to internet video which has been specifically designed to minimize data costs, and to operate within the limitations of Africa’s under-developed telecommunications infrastructure.

The main navigational element for Tuluntulu is an almost any OS (we tried the app out on Android and iOS). From here, you can see individual video channels in any chosen queue and move back and forth to find or save specific channels that catch your eye. Tuluntulu is also designed with sharing in mind — you can tweet your friends or channel administrators, see their tweets to you, share a queue with a friend, and subscribe to other people’s channels. It’s all the same kind of things you can do on YouTube.

The real challenge for Tuluntulu will be justifying its picture quality — the free app download price for a streaming service and the estimated running cost of R5.00 per hour of streamed content is much, much cheaper than YouTube but the functionality will be fairly limited in comparison. The company is hoping to mitigate that in the coming months by adding support for developer services. That said, Tuluntulu already plans on adding more features and channels — though in a crowded video marketplace, it might take it some time to find some traction.

Sponsorship brands aside, this year you’ll have a chance to watch artists like Mi Casa, Reason, The Soil, AKA, Kabomo, Brian Temba, Black Coffee and more while they’re backstage. Yes, you may have a bettertime than fans who paid a premium to be there in person. We wouldn’t count on getting that VIP treatment, but it’s undoubtedly an added incentive to start streaming.