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YouTube Getting New Look, Video Player Improvements and Pinch to Zoom on iOS

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YouTube today announced a number of updates that are designed to improve the look and performance of the popular video player on desktop and on mobile devices.

General-YouTube-Feature-1.jpg

An "ambient mode" changes the background color of the app in a subtle way to match the video that is playing, an effect that YouTube says is meant to draw viewers into the content. Ambient mode will be available on the web and on mobile when the dark theme is enabled.

The dark theme has also been updated to be even darker than before, a change made due to user feedback.

As for the video player, YouTube links in video descriptions will turn into buttons, and actions like share and download have been updated to minimize distractions. The subscribe button has an updated shape and color, with YouTube doing away with the red shade.

On iOS and Android devices, a pinch to zoom feature that's been in testing is rolling out as of today. Users can zoom in and out of a video, and when the zoom in function is used, the rest of the video stays zoomed until the user zooms back out.

Precise seeking has also been implemented to make it easier to rewind to a specific spot in a video. Users can drag or swipe when looking through a video to see a row of thumbnails that will help them find the exact part of the video they're looking for.

YouTube says that all of these changes will begin rolling out gradually over the course of the next few weeks.

Article Link: YouTube Getting New Look, Video Player Improvements and Pinch to Zoom on iOS
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/10/24/youtube-design-video-player-improvements/
They better not RE-BREAK the built-in iOS PIP feature! I waited so long for that to work again and now i rely on it heavily.
 
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ignatius345 said:
I started using Vinegar a while ago and haven't looked back.
Click to expand...
I had YT Premium for years through my brother and upon him cancelling, I was looking to renew. Then I realized I'd rather use Vinegar, and support creators directly with whatever systems they set up instead. Better to pay $100/yr to someone I appreciate than whatever small cut YT gives out.
 
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The dark theme has also been updated to be even darker than before, a change made due to user feedback.
Click to expand...

Good. I wish more apps would offer the "Lights Out" OLED black setting Twitter does.
 
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ignatius345 said:
I started using Vinegar a while ago and haven't looked back.
Click to expand...
After you buy it and install it, it says, “This extension will be able to read and alter webpages and see your browsing history on this website. This could include sensitive information, including passwords, phone numbers, and credit cards.

I don’t think I want some app developer having my google account information. Deleted
 
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The design changes I'd be interested in would be:
  • Adding dislike count back (pipedream and not super relevant here)
  • Putting comment access before related videos, no extra tap (this is for the cOmMuNiTy after all)
  • Less icons in the video player itself
  • Removing redundancies, like in the cog icon in top right
  • Removing things no one uses, like cardboard view
  • Edit: adding a default playback speed setting
  • Edit: adding audio-only playback to save data and skip loading. YT Music does similar with music videos.
 
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YouTube ditched the VR button in the iOS app recently (or is it a bug?). Now many people can no longer enjoy 360 or VR180 content through iPhone-based cardboard goggles (yes, that is still a thing!).
 
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The seeking another spot UI within a video is so much better with this update - will be using it alot.
 
Since I got this iPhone 14 Pro the YouTube app has been frequently pausing and then power fast forwarding whenever blue tooth connects to disconnects. Including putting AirPods in or out, or getting a in or out of my car. It’s extremely annoying.
 
Haust said:
After you buy it and install it, it says, “This extension will be able to read and alter webpages and see your browsing history on this website. This could include sensitive information, including passwords, phone numbers, and credit cards.

I don’t think I want some app developer having my google account information. Deleted
Click to expand...
It's not taking your "google account information". It's reading which YouTube page you're looking at to (you know, in order to actually function). If you look carefully, it gets permission to work on YouTube only.

Screen Shot 2022-10-24 at 12.58.03 PM.png


But anyway, suit yourself!
 
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