YouTube Has Been Updated on Mobile Devices.
Last week, YouTube began rolling out a new interface across both its web browser and apps, promising a “more expressive and intuitive experience.” In reality, reactions have been mixed. For example, the TV app no longer automatically skips videos when you press “Previous” or “Forward,” but instead cycles through buttons, including “Like” and “Subscribe.” More than once, while watching TV, I’ve accidentally subscribed to a channel without meaning to, only to realize I now have to press “Up” first to see the progress bar.
Now the changes have made their way to the YouTube mobile app, as first spotted by 9to5Google . While they’re a bit less noticeable than what you’d see on TV, some of the changes will still take some getting used to.
Larger and more voluminous icons
Without a doubt, the most noticeable change is the new set of YouTube icons, which look like they were pressed with the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + B.” Compared to the old design, the play, fast-forward, and other buttons are larger and bolder, making them more noticeable.
Some buttons have also been combined. When viewing a video in landscape orientation, buttons that don’t affect playback (like, dislike, comment, etc.) are now displayed together as a block in the lower left corner, rather than as separate elements.
New animations
The new buttons aren’t the only changes YouTube has in store for you. The video search button now features a new animation, and the “Like” button on some videos now has a more personalized look.
The first change is fairly minor. Now, when you double-tap the screen to skip forward or back 10 seconds, the video automatically jumps to the new location and displays a large “-10” or “+10” marker, rather than just a quick animation of three disappearing arrows with a small “-10” or “+10” marker underneath.
The second is a little cuter. In some videos, clicking the “Like” button now plays a special animation, rather than just sparkles around the thumbs-up sign. For example, in a music video, instead of a thumbs-up sign, a musical note now appears briefly.
Pause no longer darkens the background.
Previously, pausing a video would dim the background until you unpaused it, like the lights dimming on stage. This is no longer the case. While you’ll still see the lights dim slightly while the controls are open, the paused video will now display as normal if you tap to close the controls again. It’s a small change, but it can be useful for taking screenshots. However, I’m concerned that if you’re not paying attention, it can easily appear as if the video is frozen.
Nested comments and simpler bookmarks
Finally, Google has removed several steps for saving and commenting on videos.
Now, tapping the bookmark icon to save a video to a playlist reduces the number of steps and eliminates the need to navigate through multiple pages. Instead, playback simply pauses and opens a list of your playlists, allowing you to quickly tap the desired playlist.
Additionally, comments are now organized into threads, making it easy to see who’s replying to which comment. This is a great way to follow the conversation, although each comment takes up a bit more space.
Can you get rid of the new YouTube interface?
Overall, I’ve gotten a feel for the new YouTube app. Some of the new features, like threaded comments, seem logical to me. But the heavier buttons feel a bit awkward, and when I see them, I can’t help but think of Fisher-Price.
Unfortunately, if you don’t like the new YouTube mobile interface, there’s not much you can do. It’s still under development, so you might not see all the changes yet. But since it’s server-side, once you see them, it’s all over. Even the web player is affected by these changes, so abandoning the app isn’t an option.
However, if you’re using a desktop, Reddit and YouTube users are compiling lists of extensions that you can combine to customize your experience. Technically, there are mobile browsers that support them, with Firefox currently the most popular. However, I’ve found that most of the suggested extensions no longer work for me or aren’t available for mobile devices.
In that case, if you’re tired of YouTube’s current look, you might want to consider an alternative player, like Play . It still uses embedded videos, so it won’t completely eliminate all the changes, but its overall minimalist style may be a welcome relief from YouTube’s increasingly cluttered design.