YouTube’s Android app has been updated to support transcription of content, with this feature being rolled out first in India and other countries where the app is most used. This means that users can now tap on the CC button in the video player and have the video transcribed into text form. YouTube intends to have it available worldwide by next year. Transcription Comes to YouTube
How Does It Work?
You may have noticed that in certain parts of Google, you’re given an option to automatically transcribe whatever is being said. You can do so with Google Voice Search, or when watching a video on your computer. Now, YouTube will let users do it right within their Android app.
Main Features
This transcription feature is designed to help users follow along with videos at work, in school, and while out and about. If a video has captions or subtitles, then you’ll see them transcribed right underneath. The feature will initially be made available on Android starting today, with an iOS version coming soon. In addition, you’ll be able to start a video playing on one device and pick up where you left off on another.
How Will This Feature Be Used by Creators?
Ever been watching a video and thought, I’d like to capture that word/phrase but I don’t have time to pause it. Also, I know exactly where in relation to my phone it is! Well now you can just tap your screen when you hear something interesting, wait until a transcription of that section pops up and then copy & paste it wherever you want (Twitter bio? Word document? Transcription Comes to YouTube
What Is The Schedule For Release?
An exact date hasn’t been released yet, but it should be out within weeks. The feature is currently live on Android devices. If you don’t see it yet, check back in a few days. As of now, it only works on desktop, but watch for more updates down the road. The transcription feature will come first to Android devices. Once Google has perfected and refined it, transcription will then come to iOS devices as well (Android has 60% of smartphone market share).
When Can We Expect This Feature To Come To iOS Devices?
At present, it’s unclear when transcription will be available on iOS devices. It is likely that Google is still testing and improving its new service before bringing it to Apple’s operating system. In fact, Apple was late to implementing text support for closed captions in video, having only implemented such a feature back in iOS 9.2; at present time, Google has yet to implement closed captioning for video—even though many users have requested it for years.
What Type Of Data Are You Collecting And What Does Google Do With That Data?
You may be surprised by what you find if you do a quick search on Google’s privacy policy. Now, ask yourself these questions: What kind of data are you collecting? Are you sharing that data with any third parties? How are they using it? What is being done to protect that data? If your organization is collecting personal information from users (and what business doesn’t?), it’s imperative that your privacy policy be upfront and clear about how such information will be used.
Will This Data Be Shared With Third Parties?
It’s unlikely that Google would share its data with any other company. The search giant is extremely protective of its massive stores of user and viewer information, so it’s highly unlikely that transcripts will end up in anyone else’s hands. There may be some cases where transcriptions could be useful for advertisers, but Google has not revealed any plans for sharing transcripts with third parties.