YouTube Gaming update hits iOS and Android as it expands to Canada, Australia, and more

Gaming is one of YouTube’s biggest categories, and Google is trying to fuel its growth by updating its app and site dedicated to the hobby.

YouTube Gaming is getting a few tweaks and improvements today on iOS, Android, and the web. Google has already added the capability to capture mobile gameplay to YouTube Gaming on Android as well as Sponsorships, which enables viewers to financially support their favorite creators, across all platforms. But now the company is adding a number of requested features, like a pop-out player for Android that gives audiences the opportunity to watch a video or livestream while using other apps.

Gaming is a $99.3 billion business worldwide, and video content related to this market is generating $3.8 billion in spending. Google wants to get its hands on as much of that as possible while fending off competitor Twitch, which dominates the live video space.

In addition to the new features, YouTube Gaming is also launching on iOS and Android in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand for the first time. Google is also promising that more countries will get the app soon.

When those countries come online, they’ll get an improved YouTube Gaming experience. Google has changed a lot about how you navigate the video site, and this culminates in a simplified homepage that eliminates the sidebar. Instead of a pull-out menu, YouTube Gaming is now putting all of your favorite channels and games right in front of you in a handful of tabs. Google has also added a Live tab that will show you the top streams and the top games that are broadcasting right at that moment.

Finally, Android is getting the aforementioned pop-out player as well as the option to switch quality on the fly, 60 frames-per-second playback, and a DVR mode. Most video game content is now 60fps, and getting that on Android will make the experience of watching video games more closely resemble what it’s like to play them. And the DVR mode will let people rewind livestreams as they happen.