YouTube has received a major overhaul with the launch this week of a redesigned mobile app and a brand new logo, not to mention vertical videos without black bars on the sides.
The mobile app has a cleaner look with a white header that puts the content front and center. The navigation tabs, meanwhile, now reside at the bottom of the app and new Library and Account tabs have been added to offer quicker access to what users are looking for.
The redesign will also bring a new gesture to YouTube.
“In the coming months, we’ll experiment with a feature that lets you jump between videos with a simple swipe of your hand: just swipe left to watch a previous video or swipe right to watch the next one,” YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan said in a blog post.
Mobile users can now speed up and slow down the playback of a video as well as view a row of suggested videos while watching another video in full screen.
Coming soon will be the ability of YouTube to change shape to match the video format being watched be it vertical, square or horizontal.
“That means you’ll always get the best viewing experience automatically – including vertical videos with no black bars on the sides,” Mohan said.
YouTube desktop has also received an overhaul which Mohan described as “a fresh, simple and intuitive user experience that lets content shine – because there’s nothing more important than the creators and videos we all love to watch.” The redesign includes an optional dark theme, which turns the background dark while videos are playing.
The new logo and icon are now rolling out across mobile and desktop and will come to other apps and services soon.
