Native YouTube playback on Windows Phone updated

For folks who are enjoying their Windows Phone experience immensely at the moment, did you notice anything different with YouTube’s performance on your smartphone lately? While the browser app for the Microsoft mobile platform remains at version 1.0, the actual streaming is now handled by HTML5, and initial impressions of it have been nothing but encouraging, where the entire experience does point towards a more robust nature. For example, what you see above shows off the “HQ” option (High Quality), and selecting that would dramatically improve the video quality, so much so that your eyes appreciate it a whole lot. Definitely perfect for the occasional use, and far improved compared to its predecessor. I know that the jump in quality is not as mind blowing as that from VCD to Blu-ray, but at least it is a step closer to reality. By the way, just a quick question – how many of our readers out there actually use their mobile devices to watch YouTube more often than their desktops? It is a real battery killer for sure, especially when you are connected via 3G/LTE instead of Wi-Fi.