YouTube announced a revamped user interface for its smartphone application in its blog post. Many distinct features were announced which are there to improve user experience. Neal Mohan, the Chief Product Officer at YouTube took time to address how far YouTube has come since it was introduced in 2005. He stated that the latest update will be targeting the look and feel of YouTube to provide it with a more modern look along with features that will provide a much richer experience to the users. On the 17th anniversary of YouTube, the company asked the viewers to suggest some ideas to improve the look and feel of the platform. Based on these ideas, YouTube has made the user interface of YouTube much cleaner.
The first revamp YouTube has done is to color. Instead of the basic white or black background, the YouTube app now will feature a more immersive look, showcasing more colors derived from the tab that you are on. To achieve this, YouTube has introduced the ambient mode which will change the look and feel while scrolling through recommended videos or browsing for content on the platform. The ambient mode uses dynamic color sampling which allows the application to adapt the colors from the video which is playing. Using dynamic color sampling, the ambient mode will provide a much more immersive experience to the user. For the users using the dark theme on the web and application, dynamic color sampling will allow users to focus on the watch page more easily. YouTube has also revamped the dark theme on the application and web.
The current dark theme uses a gray background which is not suitable for AMOLED displays which are common on modern-day smartphones. YouTube has made the UI much darker for the dark theme and to factor in the AMOLED displays. Also, due to a much darker background, the new ambient mode and dynamic color sampling will be able to make the colors pop even more. This updated dark mode will be available on the web, smartphones, and Smart TVs. This color revamp will also include the playlists created by the users. Playlists created by users will follow the same color treatment and will provide much more information about the user’s playlist.
The next revamp YouTube has done is to its video player. YouTube has completely revamped the watch page to make it pleasant to the user’s eyes. As the first step in this series of revamps, YouTube has converted the YouTube links into buttons. It has also formatted the like, download, and share buttons to be more immersive with the theme and to reduce distractions to the users. YouTube has finally changed the way the subscribe button looks, and it is no longer red. Yeah, you heard it right. The subscribe button is no longer red and also now has a different shape than the old red rectangular look. Google has made added more contrast making it to stand out more on the watch page and the channel page. Along with improving the look and feel, YouTube has also provided the awaited features such as pinch-to-zoom and precise seeking for all of its users globally.
