Current:Home > StocksWhy does the Facebook app look different? Meta rolling out new, fullscreen video player -TradeGrid
Why does the Facebook app look different? Meta rolling out new, fullscreen video player
View
Date:2025-04-16 04:09:37
Facebook is shaking up the way it plays and suggests videos.
The Meta-owned social media platform is rolling out a new fullscreen player for all of its videos (think short-form Reels, longer videos and live videos) with “more relevant” artificial intelligence-powered video recommendations.
The goal is to make exploring and sharing all types of videos easier, according to Jagjit Chawla, Facebook’s vice president of product.
"People are embracing vertical video," Chawla told USA TODAY. "We are just embracing the change and making sure it's much easier for consumers to consume video."
Facebook plans to roll out the upgraded video player on iOS and Android in the U.S. and Canada over the next few weeks and globally in the coming months.
Facebook's plans for video
The announcement comes just one month after Tom Alison, the head of Facebook, said the social media platform was working on a new AI model to power its "entire video ecosystem," not just Reels.
The new model is part of Meta's “technology roadmap” through 2026, Alison said during a Morgan Stanley conference in early March. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year hinted that the tech company is investing billions in AI technology.
“If we get this right, not only will the recommendations be more engaging and more relevant, but we think the responsiveness of them can improve as well,” Alison said at the conference. "So if you see something that you're into in Reels and then you go back to Feed, we can kind of show you more similar content."
Alison said the new "model architecture" was tested with Facebook Reels and led to roughly an 8% to 10% gain in watch time.
The updates Facebook is rolling out ‒ including improved video recommendations ‒ are just one step in the plan Alison outlined at the conference.
What’s new from Facebook's video player?
Previously, clicking on a video in the Facebook app may have pulled up a horizontal video, or one that played in a Feed-like player. Now, all videos, no matter how long, will expand into a vertical, fullscreen video once selected.
Facebook users can also expect to see more Reels in their feed; the company says it plans to show “even more” of the short-form videos to meet growing demand for the format.
“User expectations are changing, and that's what they're demanding. We are only meeting them where they are,” Chawla said.
Changes at Meta:Teens won't be able to see certain posts on Facebook, Instagram
The update also offers new controls while watching videos, including:
◾ A slider to skip forward or backward.
◾ A tapping feature that brings up additional options to pause or jump forward or backward 10 seconds.
◾ The ability to flip a phone to watch most horizontal videos as a fullscreen, landscape video.
◾ A messenger button alongside the like, share and comment buttons to simplify sharing a video with friends.
veryGood! (7413)
Related
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Michigan prosecutors to outline case against false Trump electors in first hearing
- This 28-year-old from Nepal is telling COP28: Don't forget people with disabilities
- Turkish soccer league suspends all games after team boss Faruk Koca punches referee in the face
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Lawsuit challenges Alabama inmate labor system as ‘modern day slavery’
- André Braugher, star of 'Brooklyn 99' and 'Homicide,' dies at 61
- Wall Street calls them 'the Magnificent 7': They're the reason why stocks are surging
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- All 3 couples to leave 'Bachelor in Paradise' Season 9 announce breakups days after finale
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- DeSantis’ campaign and allied super PAC face new concerns about legal conflicts, AP sources say
- Universities of Wisconsin regents to vote again on GOP deal to cut diversity spots for cash
- Haley gets endorsement from Gov. Chris Sununu ahead of pivotal New Hampshire primary
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- Man charged in double murder of Florida newlyweds, called pastor and confessed: Officials
- North Korean and Russian officials discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labor export concerns
- Are the products in your shopping cart real?
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
DeSantis goes after Trump on abortion, COVID-19 and the border wall in an Iowa town hall
Five whales came to a Connecticut aquarium in 2021. Three have now died
Judge vacates murder conviction of Chicago man wrongfully imprisoned for 35 years
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
Turkish referee leaves hospital after attack by club president that halted all matches
North Carolina officer who repeatedly struck woman during arrest gets 40-hour suspension
Judge rejects delay of ruling backing North Dakota tribes’ effort to change legislative boundaries