Youtube links in Gmail can't open directly in the Youtube app.

[bramkaandorp]

Here's some behaviour I didn't have before:

-Open Gmail
-choose a YouTube "new video" notification mail
-click the image in the video

Previously, when default settings are deleted, it would give me the option to open it in Chrome, the default browser, or the YouTube app.

Now, the YouTube option isn't there.

Instead, I have to open the link in Chrome, and then I get the option to open in the YouTube app.

Seems like a small thing, but it's still annoying.

The app hasn't been updated in at least five days, so that doesn't seem to be the issue. It could also be that until now I didn't realise that this was happening.

Is this "expected" (as in, the way the app should work after the last update) behaviour, or is something wrong?

None of the apps has default start settings at the moment, to see where the problem may lie. Didn't change anything.

 

[Rukbat]

I just tried it. Note 3, Android 4.3, no default browser. Clicked on a youtube link in gmail. Opened the "Complete action using" window.

 

[bramkaandorp]

I just tried it. Note 3, Android 4.3, no default browser. Clicked on a youtube link in gmail. Opened the "Complete action using" window.

That's the option I was talking about. Usually youtube would be among the options, now it isn't.

I forgot to mention:

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini with JB 4.1.2, and I live in the Netherlands (No idea whether that last part is relevant).

 

[Slug]

Chrome has perhaps been inadvertently set as the default action. Go to Settings/Apps/All/Chrome and check if the "Clear defaults" button is active. If so, press it.

 

[bramkaandorp]

Chrome has perhaps been inadvertently set as the default action. Go to Settings/Apps/All/Chrome and check if the "Clear defaults" button is active. If so, press it.

Well, I already stated that none of the relevant apps have default start settings. I'm Dutch, so I work with a Dutch language phone, so I didn't know it was called "clear defaults" in English.

Also, my problem isn't that Chrome starts by default, but that Youtube is not an option when choosing an app to open the link with.

Sorry if I come off as flippant. It's just that I mentioned this in my original post.

 

[bramkaandorp]

I've just confirmed that this is the case in all of my devices, so it's most probably app-specific.

Does anyone get youtube as an option when clicking the youtube link in an email in gmail?

 

[Slug]

It's just that I mentioned this in my original post.

Which is why I used the word "inadvertently". Sometime settings are changed without our knowledge after the event.

Does anyone get youtube as an option when clicking the youtube link in an email in gmail?

Yes.

Sorry I couldn't help. Good luck finding a solution.

 

[bramkaandorp]

Which is why I used the word "inadvertently". Sometime settings are changed without our knowledge after the event.



Yes.

Sorry I couldn't help. Good luck finding a solution.

That's okay. I guess I'll have to wait for google to fix it. (no, I'm not defeatist, merely aware of how little influence I as a person have on Google as an organisation).

Thanks for your time.

ETA: wait, what? I just skipped the part where you wrote "yes". How does that work?

I tried to uninstall YouTube and reinstall it, to see what that would do, but it's a system app, so that didn't do anything.

I'm at a loss.

 

[bramkaandorp]

Well, I'll be damned.

After trying to uninstall, finding out that it's a system app, and then reinstalling the updates, YouTube is in the list once more.

What doesn't make sense is that I didn't do this for my tablet, yet it also has youtube as an option again.

I'm really left clueless, but I don't care anymore, 'cause it works again.

 

[Rukbat]

Youtube doesn't install as a browser, a video player of a video stream client. No wonder it's not the default for anything.

 

[bramkaandorp]

Youtube doesn't install as a browser, a video player of a video stream client. No wonder it's not the default for anything.

It's not the default for anything until you appoint it default status.

I couldn't appoint it that status, as it wasn't in the "Complete action using" window.

It is now, but I have no clear ideas as to how it fixed itself.

 

[bramkaandorp]

BUMP

It's back again. Or rather, it's not there again.

To solve it, I un- and re-installed both GMail and YouTube (I left Chrome alone, because it's already an option, so why fix what ain't broken), and made sure to clear the defaults for good measure.

And even after that, it's still not there.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I've tried everything, but I have tried everything I could think of.

Please, Android, start making sense!

 

[bramkaandorp]

BUMP:

For a long time now, this is still a problem.

It might seem like a lame complaint, but it's reallly rather infuriating to have to open the youtube app itself if I could just as easily open the link in gMail.

As it is now, I have to open gMail to delete the email (although I could do that afterwards, but it's still something I do), open youtube, click subscriptions, and then click the video I want to watch.

For one video, that's just about 10 seconds extra (approximately), but it adds up when more videos come in per day.

[personal gripe]Why can't youtube have its own notification system built in?[/personal gripe]

[/rant]

 

[bramkaandorp]

A small update:

Youtube links that start with "http://youtu.be/" can be opened with youtube directly, so it's not all youtube links that are the problem.

Not that it helps me all that much, but at least I know that there isn't any software problem on my end.

P.S. the links that don't work (at least that I've tested) all have "attribution_link" in them. I have no idea if that is relevant, but I thought I'd at least mention it.

 

[Deleted User]

OP, I don't know if you're married to the process of using gmail per se, but I may have a workaround. I use Pocket for such things, coupled with If This Then That. You can use the latter to feed YouTube subscriptions into the former's app, and once set up they'll continually populate in there without further effort on your part. Pocket will play the videos in full screen mode (which you toggle on as it begins to play), and you can open them into the YouTube app should you need to comment and whatnot.

 

[bramkaandorp]

I wouldn't say I'm married to gMail. Rather, I'm married to as few steps and apps as possible.

As it so happens, for a long time the route of fewest steps was to use the link in the email to get to youtube. However, something has changed sometime in the past. As I said, if youtube had its own notification system, I'd jump at the chance of using it.

As it stands, I think it's easier to open the youtube app itself when I get a notification mail.

Still, I really appreciate the suggestion. It made me look at an app I'd only heard of tangentially, and it made me think about my priorities. At least for that, thanks!