Airtel's new video streaming app 'Wynk Tube' is actually YouTube but with a different name

Airtel just announced its own video-streaming platform Wynk Tube that lets users stream music videos. Airtel's Wynk Tube is actually YouTube but with a different name. There's no reason for you to switch to Wynk Tube if you are happy with YouTube Music. The only reason Airtel users might want to use Wynk Tube app is to avoid the subscription charges (Rs 99 per month) they otherwise have to bear with YouTube Music Premium.

Airtel already has Wynk Music that allows users to stream audio songs. Now that Airtel has released a new Wynk Tube app, it's pretty clear that Airtel is now looking to tap into the video-streaming segment. 

Wynk Tube app as already crossed 50,000 installs on Google Play Store. Some of the features of Wynk Tube are as follows: It allows users to switch between audio and video. The app also supports Picture-in-Picture (PiP), letting users come out of the app and watch the video while performing certain other tasks like sending an email or texting your friend on WhatsApp.

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Wynk Tube also claims to offer personalised recommendations to users. Wynk Tube is currently available three languages: Hindi, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. However, the company says more languages will be added soon. Wynk Tube's primary focus is likely to remain on regional content in languages like Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and more.

Airtel clearly wants to reach out to users in small towns and cities. Airtel's Wynk Music, on the other hand, claims to have 10 crore users. Although we haven't put it to test yet, the Play Store listing also mentions thousands of curated playlists and access to more than 30 lakh songs through the app. Wynk Tube also enables voice search. The app is less than 6 MB in size.

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During the Wynk Tube launch, this is what Sameer Batra, CEO of Airtel's Wynk Ltd., had to say:

“Regional content and personalization through AI, big data will continue to be a big agenda for us and we hope to build Wynk Tube into one of the most popular music platforms in India with even the possibility of user-generated content as a differentiator.