YouTube companion app ‘Play’ gets major update with option to follow channels, more

Play is a third-party companion app to YouTube introduced last year that lets users organize videos, whether to bookmark their favorites or save them to watch later. The app has now been updated to version 2.0, which adds many new features, including the option to follow channels and organize them into folders. Read on as we detail what’s new with Play 2.0.

What’s new with Play 2.0

Developed by Marcos Tanaka, the same developer behind MusicHarbor, Play focuses on helping users create their own YouTube video library. Although you can manually add videos to the app, Play is integrated with the system’s Share Sheet, so you don’t have to leave the YouTube app to bookmark videos.

With Play 2.0, the developer has added many long-awaited features, such as the option to follow YouTube channels. With this feature, users can get new videos as soon as they’re released, save the ones they want to watch, and delete the rest. According to Tanaka, there are “powerful filters” that make it easy to stay updated with new videos from various channels.

Another new feature coming with Play 2.0 is folder organization. There’s now a deeper level of organization based on folders in addition to the already existing tags. Both can be combined so that you create a folder and organize it with tags. And for Mac users, the macOS app now has a built-in video player.

There are now two versions of the Play app: Basic, which costs $2.99 as a one-time purchase and offers the features of the original version, and Premium, which adds the new features and costs $2.99 per month.

You can buy Play on the App Store. It works with iPhones, iPads, and Macs.