Launched last year, Google's Area 120 is an incubator for fun lifestyle apps. It is fuelled by ideas dreamed up during various Googlers' "20 per cent" side-project time and the latest creation is Uptime, an irreverent YouTube video-sharing iOS app.
Watching YouTube videos is an inherently social activity, as the comments prove, but Area 120 has made it even more so, as it enables friends to see what videos you are watching, join in, add comments and throw in a few emojis while they’re at it.
Featured videos are typically of the adorable kitten and cheeky puppy variety; the idea is probably going to be most popular with tweens and teens who get a kick out of watching and reacting to cutesy content collectively in real time. The bonus for parents is that there is a built-in deterrent for unsuitable content: other users can see what videos you have watched and they are stored permanently in your viewing history. Uptime is currently available only in the United States.
