Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube’s redesign is now rolling out to its mobile apps for Android and iOS.
- It brings bold and curvier icons, which Google calls “expressive and intuitive.”
- Many users previously expressed their disapproval of the similar design that rolled out to the web interface earlier this month.
YouTube recently introduced a new player UI on the web, with stark changes, especially to the icons. While YouTube calls these new elements “more expressive,” many users can’t resist calling them unsightly and cartoonish. Regardless of the latter group’s views, YouTube is starting to roll out a similar design refresh to its mobile apps.
New, thicker, and caricaturish icons can be seen sprinkled across YouTube’s Android and iOS apps, as 9to5Google first noted.
Everything from the cast and the search icons in the top bar to the Home, Shorts, and Subscriptions icons in the bottom bar has been reformed. Even icons accompanying menu items in the Settings have been replaced.
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The bigger change, of course, comes to the player UI, where we see more prominent buttons with rounded corners. Here, too, the buttons have been redone, and the changes on the like, dislike, and download buttons are especially evident.
The changes from the web player carry over to the full-screen video interface, where the bigger and rounder buttons are once again visible The buttons are also clubbed together in a pill-shaped bubble, just like the new web interface.
Additionally, the animation that appears when you double-tap to forward or rewind now appears sleeker. Instead of the earlier three-triangle animation, the new UI now shows +10 or -10, depending on the side you double-tap.
Lastly, as announced earlier this month, nested replies are now visible through connected lines — or threads, making it easy to loop in the context. Threaded replies were previously available only for YouTube Premium users, but are now also available to those without a subscription.
These changes are now rolling out widely and should be available on the YouTube app on all your Android devices. We received the redesign across some of our devices fully, while some others have it partially, even without updating the app.
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