YouTube Android App Updated For HD Playback

What's the point of having a beautiful 720p HD screen on your Android smartphone if you can't take full advantage of it? Previously if you wanted to watch a YouTube video on Android, you would max out at 480p. Google have updated the app over the weekend to now support 720p playback.

If you want to be able to take advantage of the increased resolution, you'll need an Android phone running 2.2 and up, and your hardware will need to support the stream – that limits the number of phones that can get in on the action, though.

It's not entirely clear whether you need a 720p display to get this update, or just hardware capable of decoding the stream. We can only suggest heading over to the Market and seeing if there's an update waiting for you. If the former is true, then that severely limits the number of devices that can take advantage of the new feature. Hopefully you have an HTC Rezound or Samsung Galaxy Nexus to hand.

If the latter is true, you can expect mid to high end devices to see the update, but budget devices that don't have the horsepower will be left out in the cold. There isn't a list available stating which devices are supported either, so we can only suggest that you head over to the Market and see if there's an update waiting for you.

[via Android Central]