You can now enjoy YouTube videos in fullscreen and super-sharp 1440p on iPhone X. You’ll need the latest version of the app, which adds “pinch to zoom” functionality, available from the App Store now.
iPhone X’s stunning Super Retina HD display, with a 2436×1125 resolution, is the sharpest screen Apple has ever put inside a smartphone. It’s also the first with a taller 19.5:9 aspect ratio.
YouTube gets support
YouTube is one of the first Google apps to take advantage of that. The new version 12.43 update adds support for fullscreen, which you can activate using a pinch to zoom gesture when watching any video.
You’ll find that there are no YouTube videos recorded in the 19.5:9 format, so you’ll have to deal with losing the top and bottom of your video in fullscreen mode. But it doesn’t cut out too much, and I’ve found it works well for most things.
1440p support
We can also enjoy sharper videos on iPhone X. YouTube will now serve content in 1440p where available, rather than 1080p like on iPhone 8 Plus. It doesn’t look like HDR content is supported just yet, however.
iPhone X doesn’t quite have enough pixels for full 1440p, which is 2560×1440. But it’s close enough, and it’s certainly sharper than 1920×1080, so we recommend enjoying it whenever you can.
YouTube version 12.43 is available to download from the App Store now.
