5by for Android is a video sharing app in which you can discover and watch the best videos from all around the Internet. Once you connect your social networking accounts to 5By, it’ll automatically give you recommendations for the best videos specifically curated for you. Think of it as a social network dedicated to online videos.
While there are many great services like YouTube, 9gag, etc. wherein you can watch videos from numerous genres. If you are hunting for videos, you might have to visit all the websites individually. This, even though seemingly simple, requires lot of effort. And that’s exactly where 5by for Android shines. 5by has a growing community of users who can recommend a video to other users.
Find Videos by Genre in 5By for Android
Launch 5By for Android and you will firstly have to sign in using your Google or Facebook account. You can connect with your Facebook and Google Plus friends who use 5By and hence send video messages to them. Any video messages that you receive will appear in the Inbox tab (the leftmost tab, as shown in the first screenshot below).
To discover new videos, swipe to the middle tab (shown in the 2nd screenshot above). Here you can browse popular videos from various genres. Some of the Video Genres are:
- Music Fan
- Happy Feels
- In the News
- Funny
- Foodie, etc.
Once you sign-in, you will also be able to see video recommendations from your friends and other recommendations based on the timing and the genre that you select.
Watch Videos Directly in 5By for Android
Any video that you search for, or find in the app’s feed, will be played the moment you tap on it. The video interface itself is clean and isn’t distractive at all. It does provide you options for liking or disliking the video and sharing it to your friends directly from the Video Player Screen. You can also comment on videos on 5By for Android.
Settings in 5By for Android
To enter the app’s Settings menu, you first have to tap the 3dot menu button on the top right, and you will see the settings option. In Settings menu, you can change the usual Profile Settings like name, Profile Picture, etc. and also change your privacy settings to your liking. Changes in Privacy Settings will affect the visibility of your activity on 5By to other users and Friends. You can also customize the app notifications in the Settings menu itself.
Verdict
5By for Android is a great app for discovering and watching videos which are popular right now on the Internet. The whole UI has seen a lot of polish and has even got the Material Design update which has made it prettier. While most other aspects of 5By for Android aren’t mediocre either, there are frequent issues with connectivity and video playback and sometimes I was left restarting 5By even though my WiFi was running perfectly for other apps. The app is available for free over at the Google Play Store.
