Vevo overhauls Android app with new look, faster HD video
Top online music-video source Vevo revamps for Google's mobile OS, with quicker load times, sleeker interface, easier navigation and a real-time feed.
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Vevo already notches more than 5.5 billion video views a month, and a remodeled app for Android -- the most popular mobile operating system in the world -- may let it squeeze in some more.
The music video streaming service updated its app for Google's Android platform Wednesday with faster load times for HD videos and a sleeker user interface, among other features. The updated Vevo app is available in Google's Play store and will available for Amazon Appstore for Android users as a free update soon, the company said.
Vevo is the Internet's leading music video specialty shop, reeling in billions of video views a month and representing seven of the most-watched videos ever in YouTube's top 10. Google -- parent of both YouTube and Android -- has a stake in Vevo, as do major music labels Sony and Universal, which contribute to the service's library of 100,000 licensed HD music videos that set Vevo apart. However, the company's owners, which are rounded out by state-owend Abu Dhabi Media in the United Arab Emirates, are reportedly shopping the company for a sale, inserting shades of uncertainty about Vevo's future.
On Wednesday, Vevo said that the Android update includes a tech upgrade and a new video player improves video quality, and the new app brings three 24-hour music video channels -- sort of like what MTV once was -- to viewers in the US and Canada: one each for pop, rap/R&B, and country. Viewers in Mexico and Germany get a custom channel of localized international content, and the company is working on bringing other channels to other countries.
Vevo added a new navigation menu to its Android app, as well as giving it a new home screen with a real-time feed that updates with music video premieres, original Vevo shows, recommended playlists and news about artists. The app improves video discovery with a list of suggested videos, so you can select what video you want to watch next, and it makes playlists simpler to create, modify and delete.