Vimeo, the popular video-sharing service, has announced some significant updates to its player. The new version is rebuilt from the ground up and takes advantage of the recent advancements of HTML5, making it better suited to the ubiquitous tablets and smartphones of today.
The new Vimeo player centers around HTML5, which has made great strides in the last couple of years. Users will see a very noticeable performance boost with most videos starting in just a second. They will also see some redesigned UI elements that make it easier than ever to share their favourite clips as well as log in, edit their “Watch later” playlist and so on. A rundown of the major changes can be found here.
Besides the great speed improvements, folks will also get a much more responsive interface and better playback on mobile devices, as well a unified player UI. Through the magic of HTML5, preferences also get synced, but that"s only across tabs and videos, not across devices.
Other notable additions include in-player purchasing where users can, for example, purchase a video directly from its trailer; better player resizing responsiveness; and the ability to add closed captions and subtitles to your work. There are still some buffering issues when scrolling through a video, but we"re sure those will get fixed soon.
The staff has also confirmed that they’re working on adding 4K video support, which will show up in a future update. Similarly, plans for updates to Vimeo’s mobile apps are also in the works, but no other details have been revealed.
Source: Vimeo | Image via Wikimedia