YouTube has opened its in‑app direct messaging to a broader slate of markets, adding the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and Singapore to the list that already includes several European nations. The feature, first tested in Ireland and Poland last November, lets users chat and share any YouTube video—long‑form, Shorts or live streams—without leaving the mobile app for creators and fans alike.

To activate the service, users must be at least 18, signed into a YouTube channel, and running the latest app version on Android, iPhone or iPad. Messaging supports unsending by long‑pressing, deleting a conversation from one’s side, blocking the other party, and manage conversations on the go. These controls give creators and viewers finer‑grained privacy tools inside a platform traditionally focused on broadcast.

The rollout follows a March expansion into other European countries, signaling Google’s intent to keep users inside its ecosystem rather than sending them to external chat apps. By bundling video sharing with direct messaging, YouTube creates a more social feed that could boost watch time and ad impressions, tightening the loop between content consumption and community interaction and monetization opportunities.