Many BlackBerry smartphone users running BlackBerry OS 7 and OS 7.1 have been complaining of issues with the YouTube app on their device. The service allows them to search for videos, but can no longer play back any video within the application. It was earlier feared that this issue affects all BlackBerry smartphones, but the latest information narrows it down to the phones running on OS 7 and OS 7.1.
Crackberry has reported that the issue isn’t originating from BlackBerry’s end, leading to the belief that YouTube has some issue at its side. No comment yet, from both Google and YouTube, on this issue. Unlike iOS and Android smartphones, BlackBerry phones do not have a native YouTube client on the phones. The YouTube link in the application drawer simply redirects the user to the mobile YouTube web page via the web browser, and that is where the problem apparently is.
Apparently, there are a couple of workarounds that would allow Blackberry 7 or 7.1 users to their favorite view YouTube videos. The first option is to download the Opera mobile browser from BlackBerry World, and access YouTube from there. The second option is slightly lengthy – Go to a Youtube video and click on the arrow icon on the top right side of the video that allows you to share the video. From within the options list, select ‘e-mail the link’ and send it to your mail. You can access the videos from within your email.
The phones running OS older than OS 7 and the newer BB10 phones do not face this issue. We expect a clarification from BlackBerry or YouTube fairly soon, because this silence will only alienate more users, something that BlackBerry cannot afford, as it intends to convince existing users to upgrade to BB10.
