New Video Player: YouTube Unveils Revised Design

YouTube is giving its video player an update: With new buttons, animations, and a revised control interface, the video platform is refreshing its player. YouTube's parent company Google shows the new changes in a blog post. Theoretically, the update should be rolled out this week, but it has not yet arrived in Germany.

Judging by the blog post, Google has opted for rounded outlines for the buttons, which group individual buttons together. Overall, the video player is intended to become more immersive and clearer. Immersive likely means that the controls should obscure the video less. On a published TV screenshot, all visible buttons are located at the bottom of the screen – this is currently only the case in the browser.

Continued Differences Across Platforms

Google promises the changes for mobile devices, web browsers, and televisions. However, the players on different platforms will continue to differ. While the controls will move to the bottom of the screen on TV, they will remain in the center on mobile platforms.

YouTube has been testing the redesign with selected users for several months, as reported by 9to5Google. It is unclear whether and how the now "finished" version differs from the test versions. In addition to the new look of its video player, YouTube is also restructuring comments: they will be displayed in threads in the future, making them easier to read.

To this end, Google has announced some visual flourishes that are intended to make the overall experience a bit more modern. This includes, for example, that clicking the like button on some selected videos will play special animations. For example, an animated musical note might be displayed for a music video, YouTube writes.

(dahe)